


Finding Family

by GoldenBallsZ



Category: Gintama
Genre: Basically an arc, Complete, Other, don’t worry our dear Shogun isn’t gonna die here, links up to Shogun Assassination Arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-12 22:23:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 41
Words: 94,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15350031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenBallsZ/pseuds/GoldenBallsZ
Summary: Help finally arrives. Rae unexpectedly drags the whole of Edo into her mess, but friends are always there to help her untangle the strings tying her to the Bakufu, and from her dark past.(OC not paired) (And I wrote this piece years ago and published it on FF.net. Kind of cringy at the start given at the age I was writing it at, but it gets better behind.)





	1. Help

**Author's Note:**

> Just once again reminding yall, anything you read here is several years old. (Sweats profusely and silently regrets posting this story on AO3) DON’t try to answer any questions that I wrote in this story ok? Because I’m just copy pasting the chapters over without a single edit.

She dug another fingernail into her arm, under her skin, and slashed away. The bright red welt joined multiple others on her other arm and legs, and one on her face. She felt disgusted at herself. She

_hated_

herself.

 _Useless._ She slashed another line on her arm. _Weak._ Another joined its bleeding brethren. _Abomination._ Another slash. _Unwanted._ Slash.

She stood up unsteadily, pain screwing her brain over but she stared determinedly at the brick wall of a building. Snow fell in flurries and landed on her upturned face and she stared at the black sky above. The moon couldn't bother to grace her with its presence to witness her last moments. _Pathetic me,_ she thought. A laugh came tumbling out of her mouth, so despondent that even dogs in the nearby area started howling.

Looking back on her life, she realised it was so miserable that it somehow felt funny. Hilarious even. She laughed until her stomach ached and tears rolled down before she smiled sadly again then screamed out all her anguish—

and ran into the brick wall.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

A really rancid smell invaded her nose that she couldn't ignore it even when she was close to death. She used the momentary conciousness to open her eyes and stared blearily at the source of the horrid smell.

A pair of sunglasses. Attached to it was an old homeless man...ahh...what do they call them? MADAO...right?

"LITTLE GIRL CAN YOU HEAR ME?! ARE YOU OKAY?! I'M GOING TO GO FIND HELP RIGHT NOW DON'T DIE ON ME YOU HEAR ME?!"

MADAO's eyebrows were furrowed in worry and he held her head with extreme care, before lifting her onto his back, ignoring all the blood that was getting onto his clothes (or rags rather). The horrible smell multiplied ten fold for her and she swear the little lifespan she had shortened immediately from 2 candles to one burning stub. She almost wanted to crawl off the back of MADAO to escape the stench but didn't have the strength to do so. Still, she was very touched by MADAO's actions. In her 19 years of life, no one gave an ounce of care about her— there was Yura, but she was dead. Because of her.

_Hey Yura, I'm going to join you soon in the afterlife, wait for me okay?_

She closed her eyes and whispered 'thank you' to MADAO before darkness took over once again.

Hasegawa strained himself to run faster as the little warmth the little girl had left started to fade.

"Hell, I came for a little stroll for more cardboard and I picked up a dying girl instead...AHH GOTTA GET TO YOROZUYA QUICK!"

Hasegawa turned his head slightly to look at her arm draped over his shoulder. Skin flapped and deep gashes that would surely leave scars lined her arm. Hasegawa then peeked at her fingers to find blood and little pieces of flesh stuck in her long fingernails.

 _Self-harming...huh...she needs more help than I thought._ Hasegawa shook his head and concentrated on running.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

"Oi, oi, its 3 am in the morning, what the heck—" Gintoki stopped in his tracks once he slammed open the sliding door to find Hasegawa panting heavily, while piggybacking a mangled girl still dripping blood everywhere.

 _Damn._ Gintoki has seen alot of blood and gruesome things throughout his life, but the suddenness and the contrast of the crimson blood making pretty red flowers **(A/N: HAHA PIRAKO)** in the stark white snow surprised him.

"Washts going on Gin-chan...itsh sow early..mmgh." Kagura rubbed her eyes and yawned as she stumbled to the front door.

"Kagura, go prepare some towels and hot water. Get the first aid kit too. Quick!" Gin switched on to serious mode and Kagura was wide awake in an instant. She finally took a good look at the supposed huge beef she thought MADAO was carrying, and realised it was a badly injured girl. Kagura's eyes widened and she sprinted off to prepare the things needed.

Meanwhile, Gintoki laid out another extra futon in his bedroom and Hasegawa put the girl down, careful not to touch her wounds too much.

"What the fuck happened, attacked by some random crazy guy?" Gintoki sighed and ran a hand through his natural permed hair.

"Nah, found her in some deserted alley while I was looking around for some cardboard. Look at her fingernails, she self-harmed." Hasegawa lit a cigarette and took a deep breath of smoke.

"Probably even tried to kill herself by running into the wall." Gintoki glanced at her bleeding head just when Kagura burst into the room, Sadaharu right behind carrying the first aid kit in his mouth.

"Ahhh it's going to be a long night." Gintoki complained as he dunked the towel into the pail of warm water.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

 _So warm._ She opened her eyes slowly and saw an unfamiliar ceiling. _Am I not dead? Or is this hell? Does hell even have houses? And this futon is really comfortable...why the heck am I in it?_

She turned her head (very slowly too since her head was still throbbing and felt like a gorilla was pounding away with a 1000 ton hammer) to find a huge mountain of fluffy white fur and 3 humans. A red-headed girl, a sliver-haired man, and sunglasses. Oh sorry, MADAO.

She coughed lightly and the mountain of fur let out a bark that woke all 3 people. _Ah, so the mountain of fur was just a huge ass dog._

"SHE'S AWAKE GIN-CHAN LOOK! Yo, I'm Kagura, and this is my dog Sadaharu, and this is Gin-chan, and this is MAD...sungl—Hasegawa." Kagura pointed excitedly at each individual as she introduced them.

"Yo, you awake? You haven't lost your memories right? Can you remember your name?" The sliver haired man yawned and scratched his chin.

She blinked and thought back for a moment, sadness clouding her green eyes. She still remembered everything unfortunately, including this MADAO's effort to save her. She offered a small smile to the people looking expectantly at her. "Water."

"What? Your name is water? Your parents must have short-circuited brains to call you that."

"Gin-san, she meant that she needs water to drink, not that her name is water." Hasegawa spoke up and glared at Gintoki like he was the one with the short-circuited brain.

Kagura helpfully lifted her head up and tilted the cup of water to her parched lips. She drank greedily and only stopped when not a single drop was left.

"Sorry for the bad introduction, I'm Mihoshi Rae. I really appreciate your intentions for saving me...but it wasn't needed." Rae trailed off at the end, but her words still rang out clearly in the room.

 _How ironic that help only arrived after years of pleading and praying. Where was help when I needed it?_ Rae thought bitterly. She wished she was dead instead. Wouldn't have to face a tommorow without Yura-chan.

"Oi, oi, we went through the trouble of reviving you, at least tell us what happened," Gintoki gestured to Rae's wounds, "maybe we could help."

A shadow passes over Rae's face and a cold mask slammed into place, shutting out whatever emotions Gintoki's question evoked. "Its nothing really, just your typical teenager being all emotional." Rae tried smiling but it twisted unnaturally.

All three looked at her sullenly, but no one pressed Rae to talk more.

Gintoki and Hasegawa left soon after to acquire more medical supplies, leaving Kagura and Sadaharu to watch over Rae.

"Ne, Rae-san, would you like some sukonbu, uh-huh? I can only cook rice with raw eggs, but Gin-chan said unwell people must drink porridge, so we can only wait until Shinpachi comes to cook for us. Sukonbu is healthy too. Here, I'll give you some of my stash."

Kagura stood up and pried open a loose floorboard (yes, in Gin-chan's room), reaching into the surprisingly deep hole filled with a stash of sweets and junk food and ALOT OF SUKONBU, before throwing 3 packets of sukonbu onto Rae's lap.

"Thank you."

"Nah, eat those and recover quickly! Speaking of Shinpachi, he's a Yorozuya member and he's just glasses actually. He should be coming pretty s—ah he's here he's here!"

Kagura bounced out the room and greeted him before yelling at the poor boy to cook some porridge for the new guest.

"Eh? New guest?" Shinpachi rounded the corner and greeted Rae with a good morning before scuttling back in shock.

"WHY IS OUR NEW GUEST A MUMMY?! DID YOU TWO GO EXPLORING SOME TOMB IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT?!"

Rae checked herself out to find she had been wrapped from head to toe in bandages, and multiple plasters had been stuck together to form a long plaster covering her gash on the face. Only her eyes and mouth peeked out from the bandages as she blinked at the bespectacled boy in front of her.

Recovering from his shock (by Kagura kicking his shin and reminding him to cook porridge), Shinpachi apologised for his mistake and hurried away to the kitchen with Kagura tagging along, explaining what happened yesterday night.

Rae relaxed into the futon and closed her eyes, giving a little sigh. What a lively household. Sadaharu whined and laid his big heavy head on her body, almost suffocating Rae and hurting her wounds a little, but she didn't mind.

She glanced at the sharp scissors lying near her bed which was used to cut the bandages, but Sadaharu growled a little, as if he knew what she was thinking about. He definitely was keeping an eye on her. The vibration of his growl tickled her, and Rae giggled. Raising her hand (again, slowly) to pet Sadaharu, she thought: _Maybe it isn't so bad to relax and sleep for now._

Rae escaped into blissful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[[Notes from 2015:]]]  
> Rae is pronounced RAH-EH
> 
> She seems even more suicidal than Hasegawa heheh, not that its a good thing.
> 
> If anyone is self-harming, or needs help, please come message me, I may be able to help, even if its only a little. Don't suffer alone.
> 
> I suck at author notes and descriptions. Gah. I HAD SO MANY JOKES I WANTED TO IMPLEMENT BUT ITS STILL AT A BIT OF A SERIOUS STAGE NOW SO I HAD TO HOLD BACK AAAAA
> 
> NOTE: in this story, the OC is not paired with anyone, its a story of her finding help, love and family, recovering from her dark past. There is gin x tsukuyo and okita x kagura though. :D
> 
> Maybe I should pair her with Shinpachi.


	2. A Day in the Life of Yorozuya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[[I think I should stop reminding people that this story was written years ago, its getting annoying isnt it]]]

It was late afternoon when Rae woke from her sleep, the warm ball of fuzz called Sadaharu sleeping peacefully on her. Shifting Sadaharu so she could breathe better, Rae noticed a half eaten pot of porridge placed beside her futon, with a post-it-note pasted on one of the handles.

 _'I couldn't stop Kagura from eating half of the porridge, but at least there is still some left for you. If the porridge is cold, just tell Sadaharu to come get us to heat it.' —_ Shinpachi

Rae lifted a finger and touched the side of the pot. Stone cold. Should she accept their kindness and eat the porridge? It's been so long since someone made food for her, with so much care too (ignoring that half of it was gone).

She was touched. But not until these people, the Yorozuya, were proven to have no connections to that despicable man. All these could have just been an act, hired people just to create a ruse to capture her back so he could finish her off by himself. That man was capable of such elaborate plans. She couldn't trust them.

 _Tch. Fucking worm._ Rae mentally spat at the thought of that son of a bitch. _I hope that they aren't connected._

But she knew everytime she hoped, she was crushed under the foot of horrible fate.

Smiling sadly, she bonked Sadaharu on the nose, who was awake now. Seeing the sorrowful smile of Rae, Sadaharu even felt like crying for her, he doesn't know why, but he felt a heavy burden and such tiredness emanating from her. Sadaharu whined and swallowed her head whole in his manner of comforting her, then leaving Rae in a puddle of his slobber as he ran out the room to get Shinpachi to heat the porridge. (Yes, yes he's a smart dog)

Rae reached for the scissors.

A cabinet door was kicked open and the door flew past her head to crash into the opposite wall.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU? ARE YOU GIN-SAN'S NEW SEX TOY?! DID HE WHIP YOU SO MUCH ~ngggh so turned on~ THAT YOU HAD TO BE BANDAGED UP?! GIN-SAN, WHIP ME LIKE YOU DID TO HER!" A purple haired woman burst out, wriggled on the floor, somehow tying herself up expertly with rope.

Rae stared blankly at her. _What? What the hell? Did she just come out of the cabinet?_

"So unfair~ why is Gin-san giving you special treatment? IM JEALOUS!"

Horror descended upon Rae as she realised this purple haired woman was a masochist. And apparently, that silver-haired man, Gintoki, was a sadistic man who was involved with this woman in sexual relationships. And now this M woman was suspicious of her being Gintoki-san's...sex..toy...

Suddenly, the door to the room was ripped open (literally) and Gintoki came flying in, his kick aimed perfectly at M woman's face. Gintoki KO'ed her in an instant, then threw her out of the window unceremoniously. Gintoki turned his dead fish eyes upon Rae's face.

Rae gasped for breath as she tried to process everything going on. _That woman is going to die! He just murdered her in cold blood. They have to be connected to that man!_

"Oh, Mihoshi-san, don't worry, she won't die. Sa-chan has been a professional stalker for the past few years, she doesn't die from something this mild. Plus she's a kunoichi. Eh, bunch of them are hard to kill."

 _STALKER?! SM PLAY?! SEX TOY?!_ _WTF?!_ Rae was close to breaking point. She forced out a sentence breathlessly, "S-She...she said that...I was your new...new sex toy..."

"AAAAA! Don't listen to her Mihoshi-san! She is living in her own fantasy! I'm not into SM play! Don't get me wrong! Gin-chan is an innocent man!" Gintoki panicked and grabbed his hair.

The purple haired woman, Sa-chan, (somehow) climbed up onto the second floor window, and was currently hanging there after recovering from Gintoki's kick. Rae turned and her jaw reached the floor as Sa-chan launched herself at Gintoki.

"Giiiin-saaaan~"

"AAAAAARGH DON'T GET CLOSE TO ME WOMAN!"

Rae stared dumbfounded at the scuffle going on, with the M woman trying to force her lips on Gintoki's. Shinpachi arrived at this particular moment, carrying a steaming pot of porridge while Kagura's eyes were tracking it unabashedly from the living room.

Ignoring the fight obviously going on, Shinpachi set the pot down and ladled a bowl of porridge for Rae. Rae turned to Shinpachi with the same expression. _He's acting totally normal! Are they not going to stop the fight?!_

"Ah, Rae-san, you don't need to care too much about them, they'll be done in a moment." Shinpachi drawled, putting a spoon into the bowl of porridge and handed it to Rae. Rae closed her mouth, took the bowl from Shinpachi with a thanks, and enjoyed the show.

10 seconds later, the purple haired woman was booted out of the door.

Gintoki sighed heavily.

3 seconds later, "GINTOKI! WON'T YOU JOIN US IN OUR NOBLE QUEST TO REBUILD EDO? JOIN THE JOUI! JOUI IS JOY!"

The knocks from the front door was accompanied by shouts from a man. Gintoki flew out of his room, and aimed another kick at the door. When the door was impaled with a long haired man, Gintoki walked away without another word.

"Gintoki, ah, good morning. It's good to see you." The long haired man stepped in without an invitation, a huge duck like man thing following behind.

Rae swore she was going crazy. This household is crazy. Everyone is crazy! This man is connected to the Joui patriots?! Rae felt her heart sinking as her assumption was confirmed. _These people were definitely hired by that jerk._

Shinpachi passed a cup of tea to the long haired man (still stuck in that ridiculous door) as he stopped in front of the open door of Gin's room, currently occupied by Rae.

"Oh, a new guest! Nice to meet you, I'm Katsura." Katsura pointed behind him, "This is Elizabeth."

Thoughts flitted through her mind as Rae studied Katsura and Elizabeth. _Katsura, the famous joui._ She may have been cooped up in that house for four years, but she still watched the news and kept up with the times. _And isn't Elizabeth a girl's name?_ Rae took a look at the hairy legs of Elizabeth. _Definitely an ossan._

 _"_ Zura, I told you, don't enter without permission." Gintoki snuggled under the kotatsu, covering his face with a Jump.

"Zura ja nai, Katsura da! And it's an emergency...I have to use your toilet...I need to take a dump...arrugh the fried chicken last night must have gone bad..."

In the meantime, Elizabeth had waddled over to Sadaharu sleeping under the kotatsu, and punched him awake. Sadaharu awoke immediately and chomped down of Elizabeth's flipper.. or wing- whatever that is. The house erupted into chaos once again and Rae felt her headache worsening.

Ah, but there is still more to go. The remaining one front door left was blasted by an unknown missile.

"KATSURAAAAAAAA! SURRENDER NOW! YOU'RE SURROUNDED!" A gruff voice travelled through a loudspeaker, reaching the ears of the occupants in the Yorozuya.

"OI SHINSENGUMI BASTARDS, KEEP YOUR NOISE LEVEL DOWN!" Another accented voice which was female came through. Rae guessed that it was from someone downstairs.

Katsura who was on his way to the bathroom, shouted a hasty goodbye and promising that he would come back, leaped out of the window with Elizabeth and pattered away on the rooftops (while holding his butt to prevent poop from leaking out).

The Shinsengumi barrelled through the front door. Everyone seemed to be violently entering the house today.

A man with sharp eyes glanced around the room, his cigarette hanging from the side of his mouth. "Damn it, he got away. 3rd squad, chase after him!"

"Hijikata-san, it's because of you. You were too slow like a goddamn snail. Die, Hijikata." A light brown haired man with queer wine red eyes whipped out a bazooka and fired it at the sharp-eyed man. The projectile was doged expertly by the target, and exploded behind him, destroying a part of the house.

"Oi! Don't fire your bazooka in my house! Pay up for repairs! That costs 100 million!" Gintoki yelled, sitting upright now.

 _"_ Don't try to suck money out of us, you stupid lazy bastard!" Sharp-eyed man glared at Gintoki with hostility, and Gintoki glared right back. Their faces warped dramatically as they glared harder.

"Are you a guest of the Yorozuya? Hello, my name is Yamazaki." Yamazaki stepped in the room politely, introducing himself, a racket on his right hand. "Would you mind if I practiced my swings here? The living room is overcrowded, I can't practice my smash there."

Rae just shook her head without any thought. She couldn't think straight right now. So the Yorozuya was affiliated with the Joui _and_ the Shinsengumi. Rae doubted her assumptions, anyone related to people who reported directly to the Shogun wouldn't cooperate with that fucking pig. Right?

Catching on to Rae's bewilderment, Yamazaki helpfully introduced the Shinsengumi members. The demon vice-captain and smoking addict of Shinsengumi was Hijikata Toushirou. Bazooka-firing guy and sadistic prince from Planet of Sadists was Okita Sougo, the Captain of the First Division, and a bunch of other names she couldn't remember as Yamazaki rattled on.

Yamazaki continued on swinging as he leaked all kinds of information out. Okita-taichou has alot of female pets tamed with his sadism. Hijikata-fukuchou eats everything- _everything-_ with mayonnaise.

Rae grimaced at the thought of chocolate with mayo. Urgh.

"Ah! Where are my manners, what is your name, my lady?" Yamazaki stopped in mid-swing, turning to Rae.

"Mihoshi Rae." Rae wasn't good at interacting with people, she hoped he would prattle on without trying to hold a conversation with her.

"Mihoshi-san, are you—"

"Oi Yamazaki! We're going now! Gotta leave before the lazy germs of this silver idiot infects me." Hijikata shouted, turning tail with the Shinsengumi members filing out behind. Rae sighed with relief.

"Ah fukuchou! Wait for me!"

The house finally achieved peace and quiet when the sirens of the police cars wailed away in the distance. Rae felt drained after the hustle and bustle of the afternoon events. It was getting close to evening right now too.

However, for the first time in 10 years, Rae laughed. In a happy way of course. She hadn't seen such energy and fun, it was a drastic change from her dark life, which she enjoyed very much. She laughed till she could feel abs forming already, and the gash on her face reopened again.

Rae didn't want this to end, she wanted to know more about them, the bright and colourful people of Yorozuya and their friends. Rae didn't want to bring them trouble as it is, with her tainted self. She had to leave soon, but she was going to indulge guiltily in this happiness temporarily.

The Yorozuya members smiled slightly at Rae laughing, and continued on their daily routine. Shinpachi took up the first aid kit to help Rae treat her reopened wound.

Just another day in the lives of the Yorozuya.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[[Notes from 2015:]]]  
> Tadaaa. If this chapter was a bit boring, I'm sorry, this is just to make sure that Rae knows what she's getting into HAHA
> 
> I'll make the next chapter more exciting ;) We're going to learn more about Rae-chan's past & meet the others in Kabukicho.


	3. Yura

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[[HAHA! You thought Im gonna write another reminder here right? Too bad! Its— its actually a....a very good day to you sir!]]]]

Night suffocated her. It doesn't bring peaceful sleep, it doesn't let her escape into a world of fluffy dreams. It brings nightmares, unwanted memories, and hours of loneliness before the sun shines upon the world again and she is let out of the momentary cage that is her own brain.

Once again, Rae fell into uneasy sleep.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

_"Ne, Yura, we are almost there, come on!" Rae huffed as she peeked around the corner to scan for the guards._

_"Mm. Let's go!" Out of breath, Yura sprinted for the next cover, hiding in the shadows as much as possible. Rae followed in her footsteps and they safely reached the bushes. The bushes right near the unguarded side gate of the estate._

_"Find those women! They are to be eliminated on sight! Hurry up!" The sound of multiple footsteps was heard, most of them leading away in the opposite direction. A few scoured the area near where Yura and Rae were hiding._

_Shit. They were so close to the gates and the guards just had to appear! Rae bit her lip indignantly. So close. She wasn't giving up this chance. Rae picked up a small stone and aimed it far away from them, and threw with all her strength._

_The tiny rock landed, making just enough sound to catch the guards' attention. They turned, eyes narrowing as the leader of them gestured silently to the few men to check the source of the sound._

_Yura turned to Rae, eyes shining so brightly with hope, and squeezed their interlocked hands. Rae reciprocated the gesture, and nodded at her, waiting for the last guard to turn his back on them._

_3._

_2._

_1._

_NOW!_

_They burst out from the bushes, not even bothering to conceal their prescence anymore. Just a few more steps, just a few more, and they will be free from this miserable life. A metallic plink caught Rae's attention however, as she looked back to find Yura's first gift to her, a sliver hairpin, falling onto the ground from her hair. The pin must have loosened from all the running they did._

_No! That was the first gift that Yura saved up so badly for! Rae turned back for the pin, but the guards had already noticed them._

_"Aim!" Guns raised up and barrels pointed at them._

_"NO! RAE-CHAN! DON'T!" Yura screamed desperately as Rae's hand slipped from hers._

_"FIRE!" The leader dropped his hand, a signal to the men to fire._

_Everything seemed to progress in slow motion, as Rae snatched the pin up from the ground, and looked up to see bullets making their way into her chest._

_No. It didn't._

_Yura slipped in front of Rae, and took the bullets. Blood sprayed into the air, and splattered over Rae._

_Rae's voice stuck in her throat, and watched as her one and only friend spewed blood from her mouth, somehow still standing with ten bullet holes riddling her body._

_**No** _ _. They were so close. So close to freedom...and yet..._

_"R-Rae-chan...run..." Yura coughed up more blood as she breathed out._

_"Yura...no..." Disbelief set in, Rae shaking her head. She could hardly register that the guards were aiming their barrels at them again._

_"Rae-chan, don't die here now...free...yourself, live, and never come back...y-you deserve so much better..." Yura turned, unshed tears glistening in the moonlight. She smiled a heartbreaking smile. One that spelled her emotions of despair of not escaping successfully. One that spelled her love for Rae. One that spelled her determination to die for her best friend._

_Rae couldn't differentiate the blood on her was Yura's, or it was the blood that was gushing out of her shattered heart. Her heart would never be whole again. It was never whole since the start, but Yura had filled it up. And now...it was hopeless._

_Still, Rae did not die together with her only friend there. Even if she was headless, armless, legless, Rae would fulfill the last wish of her best friend._

_Rae ran for the gate._

**"Fire."**

__Rae did not turn back. Bullets barrelled into Yura, and with a grunt, Yura still stood. Stood with her arms opened protectively, protecting Rae. Always. Even when Yura was already dead._ _

__Rae's heart shattered in dust. The dust was picked up by the frigid wind of the winter, and was whisked away into the cold night with the glowing snowflakes. Tears spilled down her face._ _

__The guards still thought Yura was still alive, and fired another round into her. "Stubborn woman!" The leader spat._ _

__"Sir! She's dead!" One guard ran up to push Yura, her face frozen in a mocking smile reserved for the guards. Mocking them that they would never get her and Rae, even when in death. Yura finally crumpled onto the ground with the push from the guard._ _

__"Tch! Damn bitch! Chase after the other one! They must be killed, they know too much about Aikake-sama!"_ _

__Rae had made her way out of the estate, and she had no time to contemplate her freedom as she ran and ran, pumping her legs to lose the guards chasing after her. Rae ran without any thoughts, not allowing herself to think about what she had done for a moment, not until she had gotten away, and fufilled the last wish of her best friend._ _

_Rae could not tell how much time passed, when she threw the guards off her tail and arrived at a lonely alley at who-knows-where. She leaned against the wall of a building, and slid down to the lightly snow-blanketed ground._ **_(a/n: still not deep enough to leave footprints, if that's what yall were thinking)_ ** _Guilt wracked Rae._

_It was me._

_Me who caused Yura's death._

_Me who took her freedom._

_Me who made her suffer._

_Me who she was still protecting in the end. Even if I should be the one protecting her._

_Me._

**_Disgusting me._ **

_Yura, you told me to live, but you didn't specify the time. I lived for you until I had successfully obtained freedom. But I have to join you now, you know._

_I should be the one taking your place, shouldering your pain._

_Rae slashed her fingernail into her arm. One for every sin._

_Pain flooded her senses._

_Another slash._

**_Me. It's all my fault. ITS ME. ME! ME WHO SHOULD BE DEAD! ME! I HATE IT! I HATE MYSELF!_ **

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

"Mihoshi-san! Wake up! Mihoshi-san!"

Rae opened her eyes, heart thundering in her chest. The faces of the Yorozuya floated into view, all of them filled with concern. Shinpachi had stayed for the night too.

_It was a dream. A dream._

"Rae-chan, are you okay?" Kagura grasped a tissue box in her hand, offering a tissue paper to Rae in her other hand.

Rae touched her face. Her fingers came away wet with tears she hadn't known she had shed.

She did not make a move to accept the tissue paper from Kagura. Her hands curled tighter around the blanket, head lowering. She did not want to show weakness to anyone.

"I'm okay." Rae looked up, her eyes betraying her. A mixture of self-hatred, anger, despair and sorrow blended into her dark green eyes.

The Yorozuya knew she was definitely not okay, but it was not time to pry into her matters yet. They nodded and Kagura gave her a few more sukonbu, and left the tissue box beside her futon. Sadaharu licked her tears away. Rae thanked them, and kept silent, waiting for them to leave.

The Yorozuya members didn't. Instead, they all grabbed their futons and pillows, laying them down next to Rae. Rae was at a loss at what to do.

Warmth crept into her dead heart. "Thank you." Rae whispered. Seems like all she could offer was just gratitude. Rae felt horribly guilty, she doesn't deserve their kindness.

The Yorozuya members gave no indication that they heard her, but somehow Rae knew they did.

And they stayed together until the morning sun rose.


	4. Kabukichou’s Toilets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[[looking for something?]]]]

The smell of delicious cooking drifted into Gin's room, where the 3 idiots were all sleeping.

"Smell...meat..." Kagura muttered unconciously. She sat upright, still asleep, jostling the other 2 sleeping by her side. Sadaharu was at her feet, yawning and stretching.

"Shut up...5 more minutes..." Gintoki mumbled and shifted into a more comfortable position.

"Meat...meat? Meat?! FOOD!" Kagura finally woke, her snot bubble popping. Who's cooking at this time of the day? And in Yorozuya?!

"Gin-chan! Shinpachi! Wake up! There's food! Breakfast! Someone's cooking in our house! And it smells tasty..." Kagura shot up and stomped on the faces of Gintoki and Shinpachi, giving Gin a round of slaps when he wouldn't wake.

Gintoki (with swollen cheeks) and the crew stepped into the kitchen, to be greeted with a surprising sight of Rae bustling around, bandages still wrapped around her like a mummy.

Fried rice, roasted chicken wings, vegetables, plates of food loaded the counter, still yet to be served onto the table outside.

"Ah, Gintoki-san, Shinpachi-kun, Kagura-chan, Sadaharu-kun, good morning." **(A/N: Im letting Rae call Gin 'gintoki' cuz she does not know his surname 'Sakata'. Shinpachi too. She wasn't introduced to their surnames)**

"EH! MIHOSHI-SAN! You should not be running around, you need to rest more! We can cook our own breakfast, you did not need to put the effort to prepare for us!" Shinpachi yelled, trying to convince Rae to return to her futon.

"It's fine, I wanted to pay you guys back for saving my life. I would feel terrible if I can't repay you and take your kindness for granted. I used most of the food supplies in your fridge though, sorry for that." Rae was not particularly thankful for them saving her life, but their kind actions and care for her was still something to be thanked for.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Yorozuya members sat at the table, staring at the table of food with different expressions.

Kagura was salivating, and had picked up her bowl and chopsticks already. Gintoki looked at all the food in disbelief. How many weeks had he seen such fine food, as compared to dark matter, egg over rice, and the rare times when it was Shinpachi's time to cCook? Shinpachi felt so glad that for once in his life, there was someone cooking for him and the food that came out wasn't dark unknown fatal matter. Sadaharu wished he could eat those fine platters of food instead of his dog food.

"Itadakimasu!"

The room exploded into screaming as everyone snatched up as much food as they could (except Sadaharu, who had to keep to his own dog food), and they tried to call dibs first on each dish.

"KAGURA! YOU PIG! You should let Gin-chan eat more! Do you know how hard it is to take care of you idiots?"

"Shut up, you useless member of society! All you do is laze around everyday! A growing girl should eat more to grow out her boobs!" A kick made its way to Gintoki's head but he dodged it.

"KEEP QUIET! I'm trying to eat in peace here! I'm the one who always does the cleaning, I should be the one eating more here!"

"SHUT UP GLASSES!" And then screams of pain and pleading came from Shinpachi as the father-daughter like pair ganged up on him.

Rae's mouth lifted into a tiny smile while she watched the rowdy scene unfold around her. She ate calmly, not bothered that only one dish was left for her. Rae would starve and die a hundred times more to have a wonderful, noisy breakfast with them again.

"Ah. Shit. Today is rent collection day." Gintoki suddenly froze, his face turning white.

"Now they totally know we are here from the noise we just made—"

The recently patched up door exploded (again, poor door), and a pretty robot maid came in wielding a large mop.

"Gintoki-sama, please pay the rent for the last 3 months, or you will find this mop stuck up somewhere you don't want to know, like your asshole."

Rae choked on her rice and Kagura patted her on the back.

"Tama-chan, ne, we'll pay up for sure next month, just give us a little more time, 'kay? Business has been slow, and we're scraping by the skin of my dick, let us go this time, please?" **(A/N: underlined means they are speaking in english)**

"Your dick won't have much skin left to scrape by once I'm done giving it a cleaning session. Your asshole will get some special treatment too. Guaranteed to lose your ability to make babies and ensure 3 months of inability to walk." Tama calmly replied, poker face still in place. She held her mop up threateningly as if go through with what she said.

Gintoki gulped and he inched his way into the room. Kagura and Shinpachi seemed to have gotten some memo of some sorts from him, and casually put down their bowls too.

"I-I'll go get the money now, stay and wait for me there, Tama-chan." Gintoki laughed nervously and entered his room.

Then the sound of a window being thrown open was heard and Kagura and Shinpachi shot up from their seats as fast as lightning, and flew into Gin's room. Then scrambling was heard and—silence.

 _They...they escaped..._ Rae almost lost her grip on the bowl. She never had so many WTF moments in just 2 days of her life.

"Good morning, Rae-sama, sorry for the intrusion, would you like to have breakfast at the bar downstairs instead?" Tama did not bother to chase after the 3 idiots, and offered to bring Rae down to the bar instead.

A frazzled Rae followed her and met an old woman with cat ears, and an even older woman standing behind the bar counter, smoking a cigarette.

"Welcome, Rae-chan, you can call me Otose. This is Catherine." The amanto cat-eared woman smiled twistedly at Rae, trying to scare the kimono off her. **(A/n: they didnt wear pants)**

"Uh, um, sorry but how did you know my name?" Rae wondered out loud, and she was greeted by the dark smiles of the 3 women.

"We know everything, Rae dear." Catherine grinned menancingly.

_Oh. My. God. Nothing is normal here._

"There's more rice over there. Let's eat breakfast together, shall we?" Otose snuffed out her cigarette, and sat down at the bar.

It continued into a somewhat peaceful breakfast, as Rae listened in to their conversation (of skinning Gintoki and selling his furniture) and gathered that Otose must be the boss of this bar and landlady of Gintoki-san.

Rae asked a few questions of her own too, like where they were located now.

_Ah, so this is Kabukicho. Not that I know what this place is about._

"Kabukicho is a red-light district, complete with cabaret clubs, thugs, criminals, everything possible." Otose elaborated. "Where have you been all this time? Kabukicho is famous for its 3Ms : 'most dangerous district' , 'most unwanted place to live in' , 'most highly reccommended place to experience the nightlife (and possibly death)' **(a/n: haha i made the last one up)**. I'm surprised there was someone who doesn't know about Kabukicho."

 _Excuse, think of an excuse damn it!_ Rae gripped her chopsticks and smiled fakely at them. "I was very sheltered by my parents," _so goddamn sheltered I haven't stepped out into the world for 4 years,_ "so I don't know much about places in Edo."

Rae wiped the imaginary sweat from her forehead mentally as the 3 women just rose their eyebrows and said nothing.

"Are you from a rich family? Your yukata seems to be very nicely done." Tama-chan observed the gold embroidery of a flower creeping up Rae's kimono.

"Ah, uhm, yes. Yes I am. My parents are very rich." _Parents my ass! More like a money-laden Bakufu official who loves to dress up his girls so they don't seem like his slaves._ Rae felt her fake smile falter, it was getting hard to keep it up now.

"Oh. Is that so? Did you run away, perhaps? Domestic violence?" Catherine asked, intrested in knowing more.

"No, no, I...I ran away because I wanted to...have more freedom instead of being sheltered all the time." _Damn right. Freedom without Yura is still hell. Keep the act up, c'mon. These 4 years of acting experience don't amount to nothing!_

The atmosphere dropped to a freezing 0 when Otose, who had finished her meal and was smoking another cigarette, said, "So you cut yourself? To get the attention of your parents?"

Rae's hold on her game face crumbled. Her face was overcast with shadows instantly, and Rae stood up, placing her bowl and chopsticks down.

"Thank you for the meal." Rae bowed and stepped out into the street.

The three women in the bar sighed, and Otose spoke more to herself than the others, "It's going to be hard to crack her shell."

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Rae arrived at a public toilet, and she stood in front of the mirror, unwrapping her bandages. Scabs formed everywhere on her arms and legs, it looked like she had been mashed in a chopper and came out alive.

Her black hair was still held up by the silver pin Yura had given her. The same sliver pin that had been recovered at the expense of Yura's life, due to her own stupidity. Rae never cried, not even when she was betrayed and sold by her own family.

She cried enough tears these few days, and she will never again.

Rae plucked the pin from her hair, and her hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. She aimed the sharp point at her heart and pushed down.

A pale hand shot out to grab the pin.

 _Why the hell can't I die in peace? Why does everyone have to stop me?_ Rae cursed in her mind as she turned her fiery eyes to the stranger who stopped her.

Violet eyes looked back at her, a scar running down at the left eye.

"Miss, this is not a good place to die, trust me. The toilet floor is not the best place to lie on. Especially a public toilet floor in Kabukicho." The pretty woman with the pretty eyes said, glancing at the dirt-caked floor and random pests crawling about.

Rae struggled against her hold, but this woman had an iron grip.

"My name is Tsukuyo. I work at Yoshiwara, do you want to join the Hyakka? You can learn ninja techniques too."

_Is this woman trying to recruit me? The heck is Yoshiwara? Can't she see I'm trying to die here?_

"Not that I'm insulting you, you are good enough to be a courtesan but sadly no customers would want women with scars. The Hyakka are short of hands, so I'm out recruiting people out on the surface too, since only a few underground wanted to join." Tsukuyo continued on, still holding the pin tightly.

"Wha-what the hell is Yoshiwara? Hyakka? And who are you? Stop touching me." Rae seethed. She hated when others touched her (maybe a few exceptions, like Yura).

"You haven't heard of Yoshiwara? You know, the land of eternal night— ah wait its been liberated— you know, the place where its famous for its lovely courtesans and men go there to enjoy themselves? Normal laws on the surface don't apply in Yoshiwara, so we have the Hyakka enforcing order there." Tsukuyo was genuinely surprised. She snatched the pin from Rae's hands, and took a puff on her kiseru.

"So, want to apply for Hyakka?"

"Return the pin to me, then I may consider it."

Tsukuyo narrowed her eyes at Rae, ready to make a move if the young woman wanted to stab herself again. She passed the pin to Rae.

Rae grabbed the pin, and gave a firm "No" to Tsukuyo.

"You'll get a ninja license! And 3 meals, a warm bed, and...and paperwork..." Tsukuyo seemed reluctant to let her potential recruit go.

Rae glared at Tsukuyo. "No thanks."

"C'mon, I'll send you back to your home. Where do you live?" Tsukuyo sighed, another potential candidate rejected. Tsukuyo wasn't going to leave her alone though, and let her take her own life.

"I don't have a home."

"Right. I'll take you someplace even better." Tsukuyo turned and strode out of the washroom. Rae took the chance and lifted the pin again but Tsukuyo was standing behind her in a flash, the pin in her grasp.

"Follow me if you want your pin back."

Rage roiled in her stomach and Rae felt like stomping her foot like a five-year old child.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

 _Ah. Back to a familiar place. Isn't this the Yorozuya. Hahaha._ Rae laughed humorlessly in her head. _Should have known that all the crazy people are connected._

 _"_ Gintoki!" Tsukuyo slammed the sliding door open (the remaining pieces of it), and cursed when the frame clattered to the floor.

"Shit, I broke it." Tsukuyo mumbled.

"No, its fine, it was already broken this morning." Rae piped up.

"This morning? Were you here? Don't tell me you know the Yorozuya."

Rae blanched, and replied, "I've been staying here since yesterday, they treated my wounds. Gintoki-san and the rest ran away this morning to avoid rent collection."

Sadaharu peeked out from the hallway, gave a few licks to Rae and Tsukuyo, then padded out into the street.

"That idiot." Tsukuyo didn't seem to genuinely insult Gintoki, and her voice held a trace of softness when she talked about him.

Rae held a pokerface on the outside, and sniggered triumphantly on the inside. _Tsukuyo-san likes Gintoki-san. Hueheueheuehue..time to have some fun._

"Oh, Tsukuyo-san, is Gintoki-san your boyfriend?"

"Wha—no! No! He's not, who would like a lazy bum like him? Why does everyone keep mentioning him?! Even Hinowa-san too! You too!" Tsukuyo vehemently objected, irritation showing bright and clear on her face.

 _Seems like she doesn't know of her feelings towards him. Hmm.._ Rae was exceptionally good at reading people, especially in romantic matters. She just had a knack for it, even when she knew 0 things about the people in question. It was how she earned extra money in the past, giving love advice to people for money.

Rae listed down possible characteristics of Tsukuyo in her mind as Tsukuyo complained about how Gintoki was as useless as the corpse of a rotten dead fish. _Independent. Strong. R_ ae caught a glimspe of the barely visible outline of a kunai under Tsukuyo's black kimono. _Ninja skills? Check. 'BITCH' brand kiseru? Check. Kuudere? Tsundere? Oops, I got off topic._

Rae was jolted from her own thoughts when she realised a bomb had exploded nearby. The hot air blasted around the 2 women and Tsukuyo breathed out smoke calmly, their hair whipping their faces. Even Rae was getting used to the impossible becoming the possible.

•—• (poker face)

"Well, let's go check it out, uhh..." Tsukuyo trailed off as she looked at Rae to introduce herself.

"Mihoshi Rae."

"Right, Mihoshi-san, let's go, shall we? Your pin is still in my possession, by the way." Then the blond woman stalked towards the source of the explosion.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

_Great. Should have really really known that everything crazy is related to the Yorozuya._

Rae went pokerface again as she watched the spectacular battle between Kagura and the Captain of the First Division of Shinsengumi.

Bazooka projectiles fired in every direction and buildings exploded. Then somehow the bazooka was stowed away by Okita— _does he have Doraemon's pouch or something?—_ and a katana flashed in the sunlight. A metre away on a roof was Kagura, her umbrella's barrel pointing down at Okita.

"China girl, long time no see eh? Such a warm welcome from you. Considering your social skills are as non-existent as your brain."

"Sadist, we just saw each other yesterday, your memory must be shittier than Gin-chan's runny diarrhoea."

"Oi!" An indignant yelp sounded from the opposite side, where Gintoki was standing. Shinpachi grumbled something about buying more food to stock up the fridge and walked off.

Kagura and Okita ignored Gintoki's protest, and rushed at each other while exchanging insults. More buildings exploded, not with firepower, but with the intensity of the fight. People screamed, people ran, people called the police (the police is right there, causing the fight), and it looked like something out of a zombie apocalypse. But nah, it was just a normal day and a normal fight, right?

Rae poker faced even harder (if that was possible).

•—•

Tsukuyo skirted around the battlefield to walk towards Gintoki, Rae keeping close to her. Even if Rae wanted to die, she didn't want to die by a flying debris or a bullet. Ever since that night, Rae developed a fear of guns and bullets. Her heart threatened to burst out of her chest and Rae wanted to tell Kagura to stop firing bullets, but Kagura was so engrossed in her battle Rae doubted she would even hear her over the clang of sword against umbrella. Much less over the undisguised insults thrown around.

Tsukuyo flicked kunais and used them to deflect the flying rocks. Unfortunately, her deflected debris were are scoring bullseye in Gintoki and Rae's face. Gintoki was just grimacing, and made no move to stop Tsukuyo like he was used to this happening.

"Tsukuyo-san..." Rae didn't know how to stop the woman. Tsukuyo turned, her expression apologetic once she saw her work of art, and guiltily offered her handkerchief to Gintoki. _Playing favourites now, hm?_ Rae smiled inwardly.

Then Tsukuyo ripped her kimono sleeve off and offered it to Rae.

Rae wanted to slap herself for not expecting it. She graciously took it from Tsukuyo with a poker face that reached its maximum poker, and mumbled a thanks.

Once they were all cleaned up, Gintoki greeted Tsukuyo with a 'Sup'. Tsukuyo suddenly smacked him on the head. With a kunai.

"Ow, what did I do?" Gintoki's voice turned high-pitched as blood ran down from his forehead.

"You bastard, how could you leave Mihoshi-san alone and run? At least bring her along or something!"

Rae pretended to not hear as she stared intrestingly at a flower growing by the lamp post.

Gintoki's mouth turned down and he rubbed his head, "But it was an emergency, we had no choice..."

Tsukuyo stabbed him again before leaning in close to whisper.

 _Most probably about me trying to kill myself._ Rae thought as she tried to further her act by picking up the roadside flower.

Something else in front of her caught her eye. Rae straightened with the flowers grasped between her fingers and took the chance to look at the thing through the flower, focusing on the object behind it.

Not 'thing'. A man. A man was tailing them. He blended perfectly into the shadows, concealing his prescence. The only mistake he made was moving further back into the shadows when Rae moved forward to pick the flower up.

The movement brought attention to him instead, but Rae gave no indication that she had seen him. She smiled like she totally enjoyed her life and twirled the flower between her fingers.

There could only be one person this man was tailing.

_Her._

Rae's mind whizzed as she improvised her escape plan she had drawn up the night before. She must leave tonight, without anyone noticing. She couldn't drag the others into danger with her. She wasn't expecting them to find her so soon.

But first, she had to expose Aikake.

She had learned many secrets of his over the past four years. A slave could learn things that they were not supposed to know if they pleasured him the right way. Rae's eyes swirled with dark emotions as she remembered the revolting moments.

Rae turned towards Gintoki and Tsukuyo, both talking about something else entirely now. Rae didn't want to make further contact with them in fear of the tailer suspecting them even more, but they would have already checked the Yorozuya's background if they were in action.

"Gintoki-san, Tsukuyo-san, would you like to take me on a tour in Kabukicho? I am not familiar with this place after all." Rae interrupted their conversation. Rae could take this tour as a chance to fill in the map of escape in her head.

"Tsukuyo-san, you can recruit all the girls you want on the way too." Rae continued.

"Mihoshi-san, I'm sorry I can't keep you company, I need to head back to Yoshiwara." Tsukuyo offered a smile and bid her goodbyes to Rae and Gintoki.

Rae looked at Gintoki expectantly. Gintoki sighed, sticking his right arm into his kimono.

"Fine, but expect me to charge you a fee."

Rae grinned.

Tsukuyo stalked back, rounded the corner, and pounced on the man.

It wasn't long before the man slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Tsukuyo tied the man up swiftly, and called a few of the Hyakka members to come up to the surface and drag the man down to Yoshiwara for a round of exclusive questioning.

Gintoki and Tsukuyo had discovered the tailer long before Rae did, and during the whispering, she fed him information on Rae's latest quest in killing herself, plus setting up a meeting time with him later in the night. (Obviously for the questioning of the man, don't throw your minds into the gutter)

Tsuki flicked the blood off her kunais and sheathed them into their holder in her obi.

 _Dang, I forgot to return Mihoshi-san's pin._ Tsuki thought and gazed at the sliver pin with a star attached at end for a few moments longer. _I'll pass it on to Gintoki later._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[[did you find anything? ;) ]]]


	5. Torture Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[[Ding ding ding! Its a time machine! Author-san is here to remind— *beeeeeeep*]]]
> 
> [[[2015 says: ]]]  
> Truth to be told, my dear lovely readers. I actually haven't thought of what kind of secret Rae should expose of Aikake. I'm just making all this up as I go~
> 
> *sheepish face* heheheh, please don't kill me

"Gin-san! Fancy seeing you here, shouldn't you be at a pachinko right now?" A woman with her hair tied up into a ponytail approached Rae and Gin, a Lawson plastic bag hanging from her grip. **(A/N: Lawson is like 7-11 in Japan, its another convenience chain store)**

"Just showing Mihoshi-san around town, actually. And ripping money off her." Gintoki replied honestly. A little bit too honest.

"Mihoshi-san, if you have any problems, come and find me, alright?" The woman clasped my hands in between hers sympathetically, and gave Gintoki a pointed look.

Rae jerked her hands back from the contact, a wobbly smile pasted on. "Thank you for the concern."

"I'm Shimura Tae, Shimura Shinpachi's older sister. You can call me Otae."

Rae was not surprised, after all Shinpachi and his sister looked extremely alike. **(A/n: Pointing my finger at you, Sorachi-sensei, reusing the same face all the time).** They exchanged a few words of polite conversation while Gintoki stared at the behinds of passing women.

"Goodbye, Mihoshi-san. I'm off _**plotting a murder for the gorilla behind me.**_ See you again!" Otae's voice did a 180 degree turn and distorted into a sinister tone before bouncing back into a cheery one. Otae pivoted on her heels and took off headlong into a wall, and punched the living daylights out of it.

Rae blinked and looked closer. Its was a gorilla wearing a costume that blended into the wall seamlessly. The gorilla-human's blood stained the costume, making him visible.

"That's Kondo Isao, commander of Shinsengumi. And professional stalker of Otae-san." Gintoki stuck his little finger up his nose and flicked a booger off.

Rae watched as the booger landed on her shoe.

The next thing she knew, Gintoki was on the ground screaming, his bone sticking out from his little finger. A shoe print was indented on his face with the booger returned to its parent.

"Oh my, what happened?! Gintoki-san! Are you okay?" Rae knelt to the ground, and tried to help Gintoki up.

While cracking his finger bone back into place.

"EEEYAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Gintoki's high pitched girly scream finally made an appearance.

"I'm so sorry! It wasn't _**on purpose!**_ " Rae gazed at Gintoki with teary eyes, innocence leaking out from every pore.

_A monster! A more sadistic, scary, monster than Otae!_ _Jesus christ!_ Gintoki shrieked mentally and prayed silently to every god he knew. _This monster moves even faster than Sanji hitting on women,_ _my god! Help me!_

"Gintoki-san?"

"I will never do that again, boss, never again. I am very sorry, boss." Gintoki scrambled up from the ground and bowed deeply, nervous sweat pouring down his forehead.

Rae smiled.

Genuinely.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

The man gulped as he glanced at the walls; all shapes and sizes of torture instruments displayed openly, and some even showed signs of use.

He had failed in his mission in tailing the bitch (Rae), and was caught red-handed by some pretty sexy women. Blood rushed to his face (and down below) as he thought of the woman clad in a black kimono with violet eyes torturing him, and he suddenly felt not so afraid. In fact, he would relish in it. The man grinned excitedly.

The double doors opened, light piercing through into the darkness of the interrogation room. The man squinted from the brightness assaulting his eyes as he looked upon (or rather, upside-down) the army of women.

The Hyakka strode in, the said woman in the black kimono leading. She frowned distastefully at the man who was hanging upside down by his ankles, truly like a butchered pig.

"Boss, do you need any assistants? We have prepared all torture devices. The Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon is ready for use as well." One of the Hyakka women stepped up to address Tsukuyo.

Tsukuyo took a puff of her kiseru, "Ah, is that so? Leave 2 of the women here, and we shall start."

The rest of the Hyakka filed out, 2 of the closest women to Tsukuyo standing by at the side. Tsukuyo wasted no time and flicked out a kunai, dragging it lightly across the skin of the hanging man.

"Do you want Set A, Set B, or Set M?"

The man went slack-jawed. _They even have sets?! Is this a restaurant of torture?_ Bewildered, the man asked, "Uh, could you give me more details, please?"

Tsukuyo glowered at the man whom she couldn't decide whether he looked more like a pig, duck or fish. Still, she answered coolly, " Set A includes torturing until you barf all your guts out, a swim with the piranhas and death. Set B includes torturing with a collection of annoying Justin Beiber, Rebecca Black, Tay Allyn— and a bunch of other people's names which I forgot —songs, tickle torture, and death. Set M includes a bed, you, me, and death."

Pig-duck-fish man's eyes almost rolled back into his head in delight. Obviously Set M! Set M was the choice! He opened his mouth, "SET—ammfmgghh!"

A wooden sword was lodged down his throat, preventing him from speaking any further. The man looked up in rage to see a pair of bright red eyes staring back. The pair of red eyes didn't seem to be very impressed, and the promise of a excruciating death shone clearly within.

"Oi, oi, Tsukuyo, I'm the only one allowed to get Set M with you, why are you offering your services to this _**shitty pig-duck-fish**_ hanging here?"

Tsukuyo glared at the white-haired man, and ignored his sentence as she chided him.

"You're late, Gintoki. Plus, Set M is just a watered down version of its name. The full name is ' _Masterfully crafted lie to trick stupid idiotic prisoners that they would be having some sexy time but it actually is just a Motherfucking huge net full of holes that we tie the person up in so their flesh bulges out and then we carve those little pockets of flesh out one by one until they die and by the way there are more than 1000 holes in that thing and also their mutilated bodies will be buried off in a bed of spikes"._

"THAT NAME IS TOO LONG!"

"That's why it was shortened to 'Set M' (motherfucking huge net), 'you' (the prisoner), 'me' (the torturer), 'a bed' (of spikes) and death."

Gintoki sweatdropped.

"Uh, let's just get this over, shall we?" Gin grounded his boot into the man's face. Tsukuyo nodded to her 2 assistants as they came over with a pail of water, and poured it down the man's nostrils.

" ** _Aarkghh_** -I'll never- _ **gyak**_ -I'll never divulge anything! I am loyal to the one and only Aikake-sama! _**Ogyaa!**_ " The man choked out, the burn in his nose getting unbearable.

"You just divulged your master's name, you brainless snot." Gintoki smacked his wooden sword down on the family jewels of the man.

"AAAAAAAAAA NOT MY BALLS! PLEASE!"

"Haaah?" Gintoki drawled, getting 3 more hits in. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you. There's too much shit in my ears."

The three women stoned in the background with the soundtrack of Kayako's throaty growl.

**(A/N: Kayako Saeki is the ghost in The Grudge)**

With Gintoki's masterful (sadistic) torture methods, the man finally spilled the beans.

"STOP! Stop, please! I'll tell you anything!"

"What? You're telling me to do anything to you? I'm sorry, I'm not intrested in men's assholes. I prefer sticking my shaft down Ketsuno A—"

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR HEARING?! I said I'll confess!"

"Ah, ah, there's so many mosquitoes buzzing around me, I can't even hear properly." Gintoki slapped at imaginary mosquitoes and took the chance to bitchslap the man too. The man gave a strangled cry of frustration.

"Enough, Gintoki."

Tsukuyo strode up front, and looked down condescendingly upon the man. "Spill it. Tell us why you were stalking Mihoshi-san. Why is Lord Aikake keeping tabs on her?"

"Keh, that two-faced bitch. She is just a slave of Aikake-sama, and she dared to escape! She practically spat on Aikake-sama's lordly, glorious face! Rude! And Aikake-sama was so kind to buy her off from her plebeian family, and provide her a life of luxury! And she repaid him by stealing his money and running off! And now I am even more satisfied that I at least got to kill that bitch's accomplice. And now you all are going to die too! BWAHAHAHAH and—"

"Shuddup. Your 'and's are getting really annoying." Gintoki pushed the man and let him swing back and forth.

" _ **Gerh-**_ I'm not anywhere done yet! And Aikake-sama will not let you lowly peasants off! And he will kill that bitch and all of you slowly but surely! He is the lord of the nobles! And he can—urgh I'm feeling sick—and he can — _ **uwargh**_..."

Tsukuyo and Gintoki stepped back as the man emptied the contents of his stomach onto the floor. Tsukuyo signalled her assistants to get rid of the man and clean the mess up.

The horrified scream of the man echoed around the room as the two Hyakka women silenced him forever. Gin and Tsukuyo made their way out of the interrogation room.

"You didn't need to hear the rest, right?" Tsukuyo glanced back at the curly haired man.

"You didn't want to hear the rest, right?" Gintoki fired back at her, picking his nose again with that familiar dead fish look.

Tsukuyo smirked silently and blew out her poison gas into Gintoki's face. "Lord Aikake is not someone to be messed with, Gintoki. He climbed up to the top of the Bakufu in just a few years, practically most of the feudal lords are under his control. He can crush you with a wave of his hand."

"Tch, my iron balls won't be stepped on so easily."

A nerve bulged out from Tsukuyo's temple.

"Don't worry, Tsukuyo, after all this is done, you can drag me to hell or to the bedroom."

"Be careful, and remember to come back without your testicles."

Gintoki and Tsukuyo smiled slightly and went off into opposite directions, melding into the busy streets of Yoshiwara.


	6. Apologies for the mix up

**[[[2015 says:]]]**

**Apologies for any confusion caused**

Hello, my dear readers. This is not a chapter, I'm sorry. I have something to clear up about Aikake.

Aikake is a Bakufu official (daimyo), not a court noble.

In the past, the Shogun and its Bakufu were the true ruling class, the Emperor and the court nobles were just figureheads/puppets. They had no say in state affairs. Bakufu is the government which the Shogun leads. Also, the Shinsengumi although is said to report directly to the Shogun, what they really meant is that they report to the Bakufu. The difference between normal police and the Shinsengumi is that normal cops are of a lower position than Shinsengumi, and they do not handle as much delicate matters regarding the Bakufu than the Shinsengumi.

I'll edit all the chapters again, sorry for any confusion caused!


	7. Tears

The cool night enveloped Kabukicho's resident area. Everyone had retired early to escape from the biting cold of the winter night, enjoying their warm dinner with their families.

Gintoki was still not back from wherever he was at, so the remaining Yorozuya members had dinner at Otose's bar.

It was full, as usual, with men clamoring over Tama-chan and hopelessly drunk fools danced around with Catherine. Rae had decided not to take this morning's happenings to mind, and Otose had not brought it up either.

Catherine slammed a bottle of wine onto the bar counter, her face flushed from the alcohol and exertion from the maniacal dancing they did. "Ssooo. Rae-san, would you like to join us- _**hic**_ \- in a round of Drunk Dancing Revolution 4- _ **hic**_ \- live your life a little, man. Break that emotionless- _ **hic**_ \- face of yours a little, maaaan..."

Rae rejected Catherine's offer politely and guided her back to the crowd of customers still yelling about. Rae can't get drunk when she has to run tonight. She dug into her bowl of katsudon when the door to the bar slid open.

"Yo, old woman, get me some food too."

"Gintoki, pay up the rent. Or else you won't get any food from me."

Gintoki pouted, extracting a brown envelope from his sleeve. Otose snatched it from him and counted the money before slamming a bowl of katsudon in front of him. Gintoki sighed and took a seat next to Rae.

"How are your wounds doing?"

Rae chewed on her mouthful of rice as slow as she could, avoiding the question.

"They will leave scars, ya know."

Rae swallowed. "Not that they affect me in any way."

Gintoki looked to his side, and poured a glass of shochu for Rae. He slid the glass over to Rae, liquid splashing over the edge a little. Rae shook her head and pushed the drink back.

"Sorry, I don't drink."

"You can't drink or you don't want to drink? C'mon, I'm treating you. Its a rare opportunity, don't make me look bad." Gintoki returned the drink right back to her.

Rae hesitantly looked at the slack face of the naturally permed hair man, and down back at the glass of shochu. She knew how terrible Gintoki's financial situation was, treating someone to a drink must be like the heavens opening up and spitting gold arrows everywhere. Not wanting to make things difficult for him, she picked up the glass and downed it in one shot.

A few glasses of shochu wouldn't make her drunk, but still she had to be careful not to overshot. Gintoki poured her another glass and one for himself too.

"Do you like it here?"

Rae pondered over his question, a beaming smile forcing its way onto her face. She thought about the mostly mind-blowing moments with the Yorozuya, and the warmth of this crazy group. Gintoki studied her, and poured more shochu into her empty glass. Although Rae hadn't said anything, her smile was enough for a confirmation.

Gintoki could tell she rarely smiled, from the blank mask she always wore to keep others away, and the walls she erected to protect herself and others.

"The Shinsengumi are an intresting bunch." Rae spoke up, "Katsura too. I bet no one knew that the young, good-looking man in the posters has problems with fried chickens."

"Shinsengumi are intresting? Psssh, they are a bunch of tax-robbing, incompetent bastards. Zura? Good-looking? Don't make me laugh. Look at the difference in the number of fangirls for me and him. I'm the handsomest out of all."

Rae stared as a tiny window flashed behind Gintoki, displaying the results of "Hottest anime men with long hair" poll in Japan, with Katsura clinching the first place. **(A/N: Its true, you can go online and search for it)**

"Seems like Katsura is the one with the better numbers of fangirls." Rae delivered a swift jab to Gintoki's soul.

Gintoki turned swiftly and delivered a punch to the tiny window, shattering it. "OI! STAFF! DON'T HURT GIN-CHAN'S FEELINGS!"

Kagura and Shinpachi sniggered quietly at the back, watching with great enjoyment. " _I'm the handsomest out of all~"_ Kagura imitated Gintoki in a simpering sweet voice, flipping her head back with sass. Shinpachi sniggered even louder, choking on his water.

Gintoki yelled at them and chased the kids around the bar, knocking into a few of the customers. It was Tama-chan who quietly took up Gintoki's role and poured more shochu for Rae. Distracted, Rae downed glass after glass of shochu as she watched all the hubbub going around.

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Rae was dead drunk.

"Nnnnnnnnnnnn! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEE!" Rae grinned widely, slinging her arm around a sofa and hugging it with fervor. "BLOW THE CANDLESSS...HURRY-oh noes where is the cake?"

Rae gripped Shinpachi's collar and tapped on his glasses. "Hello? Is anyone there? My friend, Sofa-chan, needs her- oh wait its my birthday- I NEED MY BIRTHDAY CAKE. Now." Shinpachi gulped as he stared into the murderous eyes of drunk Rae.

"Eh, uh, Rae-san, I am Shinpachi."

Rae frowned, pressing up closer to him in confusion. "You aren't the cake shop owner? I mean, you have glass and all...dontcha always display cakes behind glass? HMMM?"

Shinpachi blushed when he felt **_something_** soft pushing into his arm, and the cute perturbed face of Rae-san was more than enough for a virgin like him. Large green eyes bored into his, and soft black hair framed Rae's face, giving her a doll-like quality. It was deja-vu all over again as Shinpachi was reminded of Kagura doing the same thing during the ridiculous arc of the ambition-eating mole.

"Please, Rae-san, this is my glasses. I am not a cake shop owner."

Rae flung Shinpachi off immediately, and latched onto Tama-chan's mop. "Broom-san, will you be my fwiend? I don't have friends...I don't have family too...everyone left me." She made googly eyes at the mop as if she hadn't called it a broom seconds ago.

Tama-chan looked at Rae hanging off her mop, and replied, "Rae-sama, I will gladly be your friend." Rae glowed and turned to Gintoki.

"Curls! I made a friend! I have Tama-chan now!"

"WHY AM I CURLS?!" Gintoki screeched.

Rae ignored him and turned back to Tama, cupping her face in both hands with earnest. Rae's face softened into an amalgamation of sadness, happiness, fear and pure undiluted _hope._ Her walls crumbled down for a moment, looking directly into Tama's eyes.

"Don't die, Tama-chan. Don't leave me alone, okay? Promise me?" Rae lifted her little finger, and hooked it around Tama's little finger, looking like a small forlorn child.

"I won't, Rae-sama." Tama smiled warmly at Rae.

Satisfied, Rae walked round the whole bar, making pinky promises to everyone (including the customers who were at a total loss), promising that they would be friends and never leave her.

Tears started to gather at the corner of Rae's eyes, as she reached the last person in the whole bar. She was **_so_** happy, she made so many friends today. And they all promised they would never leave her.

"Curls! Will you be my friend too!"

Gintoki lifted up his little finger which had been broken in the day by Rae, and hooked it around Rae's little finger. (It miraculously healed, thanks to me, the author.)

"I promise. And we will never leave you alone." Gintoki solemnly tightened his finger around Rae's. Rae broke into a heartbreaking smile as indescribable feelings overflowed from her heart.

That night, Rae cried tears of joy.

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_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

_4 a.m. It looks like my plan was delayed a little._ Rae blinked at the Justaway alarm clock beside her futon. Gintoki slept at the kotatsu in the living room without any complaints and had lent her his room instead.

Her head was bursting and her movements were sluggish. Rae forced herself to get up, and patted the futon down. She could only remember snippets of what she had done, and the feeling of happiness overwhelmed Rae as she remembered everyone promising to be her friend. It was good enough. She would cherish these memories forever. But first, she had to leave now before Aikake came dragging them together with her into hell.

Rae did not have anything to take at all, just the clothes on her back. Tsukuyo had sent her a new kimono since she didn't have a change of clothes and wore the same old one she had when she escaped. The package arrived after Gin's tour around Kabukicho was done and she had already changed before she went down for dinner at Otose's.

It was a soothing colour of moss green with designs of white and gray flowers, bringing out Rae's eyes and flaunting her curves.

Rae put down a note that had a simple 'Goodbye and thank you' written on it, under the Justaway clock. She took a last look at the room, burning its details into her mind, and crept out slowly into the living room where Gintoki was sleeping, and Kagura with Sadaharu in the closet.

She took an even longer look at Gintoki's peaceful face, and she wanted to take a look at Kagura too, but she feared that opening the closet door would wake them. Making sure that she had memorised everything in the room, Rae moved slowly towards the front door.

Her experience creeping around Aikake's room when he was sleeping and pocketing his money sure came into handy here. Though not quiet enough for a certain samurai, it seems.

Gintoki's voice froze Rae in her tracks.

"Where are you going?"

Rae straightened, her eyes flashing with surprise. "Somewhere I need to."

"Do you not want your pin back?" Gintoki lifted his hand, the sliver pin with a star in between his fingers.

Rae whirled around and tip-toed back to Gintoki, trying not to wake Kagura and Sadaharu up. She thought she would never have a chance to get it back from Tsukuyo anymore.

"Just stomp around, its fine, that little brat wouldn't wake up so easily. Oh, and Tsukuyo told me to tell you that your pin is beautiful." Gintoki said and closed his fist around the pin.

Rae blinked and smiled a tiny bit. "Keep it, Gintoki-san."

"It's alright, I want you guys to have something to remember me by. Just don't lose it." Rae petted Gintoki's fluffy head before turning to face the door again. Gintoki grumbled at Rae for petting his head. Rae went over to the closet, and adjusted Kagura's and Sadaharu's blankets.

Something felt different about Rae, she seemed more...determined. Gintoki could only come to one conclusion while watching Rae walk to the door.

_Revenge._

"Goodbye, Gintoki-san, Kagura-chan, Sadaharu-kun. Sleep well."

Gintoki didn't stop her.

 


	8. Shinsengumi

Rae's sandals scuffed against the dirt floor of the streets of Kabukicho. She hurried along the way, she had to get to the train station and to Kyoto. Her destination was the Shinsengumi Headquarters. She navigated by her memory where Gintoki had showed her where the station was yesterday afternoon.

Rae didn't have time to make a trip to the bank a few days beforehand to settle all the trifling matters of getting a credit card from the joint account Yura, her and Maiko made. Now she can't get cash just when Yura and her had saved up for the new life they were going to have when they escaped. Maiko had no intention of escaping with them, but she helped them all the time when they were bound in the house.

Rae had not spared a thought for Maiko after she escaped and felt ashamed for forgetting her friend. She hoped nothing had happened to Maiko after she helped them flee from Aikake.

The train station was deserted, only a few early risers were there, ambling through the machine gates.

 _Goddamnit! I forgot to bring Maiko's Suica out with me when we escaped!_ Rae cursed her own forgetfulness and glared at a man who tapped his Suica on the gate sensor. **(A/N: Suica is a train pass card which you use to tap in and tap out. Kinda like a bus pass, but for trains.)**

Rae sneaked up to the stationmaster's office right beside the gates. She could enter through the open gate for handicappers, but she would have to walk past the stationmaster. A loud snore penetrated through the thin walls of the office, and Rae sighed with relief.

The stationmaster spread out on the office chair, his legs propped up on the desk, snoring away. The clock behind him showed 4.30 a.m.

Rae winged it and dashed through the gate to catch the next train heading off for Kyoto.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

She took a short nap to recover from her hangover, and almost chewed through her lip as she contemplated how she could sneak past the Kyoto stationmaster. With luck, the stationmaster at Kyoto would be asleep too.

The train announced the stop for Kyoto, and she stepped off the train, a concrete plan already formed.

Unluckily, the stationmaster at Kyoto was wide awake. And blowing bubblegums.

Rae poked her eyes (for watery effect) and walked up, her face set in a worried frown. "Oh, Mister, could you help me please? I lost my Suica on the train and now I can't get out." Rae sniffed a little for good measure, acting the perfect part of a distraught young girl.

The stationmaster popped a bubble, and leaned forward through the office window to take a closer look at Rae.

"My...my mother is at her deathbed, mister! I have to hurry and see her for one final time! But now I went and lost my card, and I don't have any money on me after the debt collectors took everything away...I...I..." Rae wringed her fingers, her voice getting higher as she continued. She willed tears to come forth and celebrated with a snoopy dance mentally as crocodile tears spilled down her face.

"Help me, please! What...what can I do?" Rae grabbed the stationmaster's hands, her puppy eyes in full force.

"Well, er, miss, I can help you, but it isn't appropriate for me to break the rules..."

"I'll return with some money to pay for the train fares later! Please! Please just let me see my mother _**one last time!"**_ Rae cracked her voice and cried even more hysterically.

The stationmaster gave in at the sight of this poor young girl, and let Rae through after a soft warning that she better come back and pay for the fares. Rae thanked him profusely and hugged the stationmaster, then ran off while the stationmaster bumbled and blushed behind her.

At a safe distance away, Rae dropped the act. Her face descended into a stormy calm and she wiped the tears away from her face. It felt good to manipulate someone once in a while. She was even surprised that her outrageous lie worked so well. Guess that any man was helpless before a woman's tears.

Rae made the rest of the way on foot, and after a few inquiries to passer-bys, she arrived at the door of the Shinsengumi headquarters.

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"Sougo! Wake up! It's time for morning training!" Hijikata burst into Okita's room, and triggered the booby trap Okita set up the night before.

Daggers flew at Hijikata and he dodged it instinctively, but he hadn't expected the new weapon: pepper spray.

"SOUGO! Ah, my eyes! YOU JERK!" Hijikata teared up and kicked Okita's sleeping form.

Okita opened his eyes lazily, yawning into Hijikata's scowling face. "Aah~good morning, Hijikata-san. I see you have activated my 'Eye-care treatment for cancer-stick smoking bastards'."

"EYE-CARE TREATMENT MY FOOT! GET UP!"

Their lovely conversation was interrupted by one of their men, panting heavily as he reported. "Fukucho! There's a woman outside looking for you and Kyokucho! They are waiting in the meeting hall!"

"Uwah, Hijikata-san, did you knock up some women when you were drunk?"

"Shut up."

Okita followed behind Hijikata as he proceeded towards the hall.

"Why the heck are you following me?" Hijikata grunted, his eyes still bloodshot and watering from the pepper spray.

"To see what kind of woman you knocked up."

"Shut your mouth! I haven't touched anyone!"

Hijikata banged the door open and stopped as he took in the sight of Rae sitting opposite Kondo. Kondo waved Hijikata and Okita over, and they took their seats beside Kondo.

Rae lowered her head as a greeting to the men, and introduced herself.

"I am Mihoshi Rae. I came to ask for your help."

"Oh, what could a young lady have for us? We are not your typical errand runners, you know." Kondo offered a cup of hot tea to Rae.

"Please conduct an investigation on Aikake Kagai. He participates in human trafficking, and buys his slaves off the black market. Slavery is illegal in Edo, isn't it? I came here to ask you to save and release all the slaves. They are all bound by illegal contracts to him."

"Aikake Kagai? Isn't he the new lord that climbed up to a high-ranking position in the Bakufu, the hot-shot everyone is talking about? Everyone says that he is now one of the Big 3 factions, the Aikake, Matsudaira and Hitotsubashi." Kondo's eyes widened as he digested the information.

Hijikata lit a cigarette stick and studied Rae's grim, scarred face. "Oi, if this is a prank, then leave now. We don't entertain young girls here. We are the police. We report to the Bakufu only."

Rae picked up her tea and tilted the cup to her lips. Her kimono sleeves slid down from the movement, exposing the still unhealed scabs of the gashes lining her arms. Three pairs of eyes narrowed on her disfigured arms. Recognition flashed through Kondo's eyes as he remembered where he had seen Rae before.

"Ah! I saw you with Yorozuya yesterday! No wonder you looked so familiar!" Kondo scratched at his head. Hijikata and Okita vaguely remembered a mummy-looking woman in the Yorozuya's room when they had barged in that day, but they hadn't recognized Rae under all those bandages.

"Oh, Kondo-san, I am amazed that you saw and remembered me even while you were getting beat up by Otae-san." Rae put her cup down.

Kondo sheepishly boasted about his good memory, but was interrupted by Hijikata.

"Woman, do you have any evidence on Aikake? We can't just conduct investigations on nobles without a legitimate reason, and permission from the higher-ups. Moreover, how did you attain all these information?"

A strange emotion Hijikata couldn't put his finger on shone in Rae's eyes, but it was gone in another second. Hijikata blinked and wondered if he had imagined it.

" _I_ am the evidence." Before anyone could stop her, Rae stood and turned her back to the three men, loosening her kimono. It slid down her to her lower back, exposing a hideous scar.

 _No. Not a scar. A brand._ Okita's eyes widened as he recognized the emblem of the Aikake house burned into the back of this woman. Rae covered her front with her arms, and glanced at the crack in the meeting hall's door, where all the other subordinates who were eavesdropping were now spewing blood out of their noses.

Hijikata flew at the door and yelled, "YOU BASTARDS! Get back to training or its seppuku for yall!" The Shinsengumi men flinched back and scrambled off to their posts.

Rae who had fastened her kimono again, sat down unfettered and directed her gaze to meet Kondo and Okita's.

"Y-you were a slave?" Kondo stammered out, disbelief colouring his gorilla-like features,

Rae confirmed it with a nod. "I escaped after being in the house for four years."

"Mihoshi-san, I'm sorry, but we can't help you." Okita interjected.

Rae gripped her kimono, her voice tinged with desperation. "Why? Aren't you the police? You could ask the Shogun for permission!"

"You as evidence alone is not enough, we need data, numbers, and testimonials from the other lords. Aikake is smart enough to cover his tracks up, and with most of the feudal lords under him, no one would want to offend him and offer statements. The higher ups are obviously under his influence too, they want to keep their jobs after all."

"What about getting the Matsudaira or Hitotsubashi faction?"

Hijikata was the one who answered this time, "Getting them to offer testimonials is akin to sending a letter of challenge to the Aikake faction. Neither of them would not carelessly rile up the other big factions, it would bring too much complications and the Bakufu would become unstable if any of them openly challenged each other. It is not their business to poke into the affairs of the Aikake."

Rae was defeated. Her head hung dejectedly and she chanted _I will not cry_ over and over in her head. It was true that she had not thought this through, but she at least hoped that something could be done, _**something**_ that could help all her friends left back there in the Aikake estate. They staked all their hopes on her and Yura, plotted and covered up for them so they could in turn bring help from the outside when both of them escaped successfully.

Gripping onto the last strands of hope, Rae raised her head. "What if I told you that the Aikake faction is planning to overthrow and ursurp the position of the Shogun?"

The three men's faces darkened instantly.

"Mihoshi-san, this is not something to joke about. If this is indeed true, we have to bring this matter up to our General Commander. Only he can give judgement on this matter." Kondo replied gravely.

"The Aikake faction is working with the Hitotsubashi. Unquestionably, the Hitotsubashi is also aiming for the position of the Shogun, but they agreed on a temporary non-aggression pact and agreed to help each other until the current Shogun, Tokugawa Shigeshige, is overthrown. Alone, neither of them will be able to overcome Lord Sadasada's suppression, so they decided on this 'marriage of convenience'. After all this is completed, the throne is between them to fight it out."

"The Matsudaira faction will not sit quietly either. They have been the closest friends and is most trusted by the Shogun, they would not let Aikake or the Hitotsubashi overthrow the Shogun so easily."

"You might be wrong, Hijikata-san. The Aikake and Hitotsubashi have some kind of hold over them, but I do not know the details of it. And the hold over the Matsudaira faction is apparently strong enough to cause them to waver in their decision of whether to join the Aikake and Hitotsubashi in overthrowing the Shogun."

Silence permeated the room.

"How do I know that all these information is credible? You might be a spy from the Hitotsubashi faction for all I know, sent here just to backstab the Aikake faction by getting a investigation approved."

Rae's tone turned venomous, "Does that fucking **_brand_** on my back seem like a joke to you? You can trust that all these information is credible, I heard them clearly with my own ears." Rae struggled to keep her temper on a leash, it was getting frustrating when no one wanted to help.

"Sorry." Hijikata apologised quickly.

There was another pregnant pause as everyone became lost in their own thoughts.

"Mihoshi-san, can I request of you to stay in the Shinsengumi headquarters for a few days? We need to inform our General Commander on this matter before deciding any course of action." Kondo asked. He omitted the fact that their General Commander was a Matsudaira.

"Of course, I'll be glad to help in any way possible." Rae agreed without hesitation. They finally believed her! She could get help for her friends and revenge for everyone. The stupid spies of Aikake can't possibly continue tailing her here.

Kondo called one of his men to escort Rae to one of the spare rooms they had, and waited for her to turn around the corner.

"Toshi. Sougo."

"Kondo-san, we should report it to Lord Matsudaira." Hijikata snuffed out his cigarette butt.

"This is not even our problem, I don't think we should take part in any of this mess." Okita objected, lying lazily on his back.

"We have known the Shogun for so long, are you sure you don't want to help him keep his position?" Hijikata sighed, the unspoken words of _**'we are the friends of the shogun'**_ hanging in the air.

"Whatever, I'll just follow Kondo-san's decision." Okita yawned and snapped his red sleep mask on.

Hijikata grabbed his sword and made his way out of the room, silently pushing the final decision to Kondo.

Kondo rubbed his face with tiredness. _This is a huge problem. Lord Matsudaira, can you be trusted?_

Just then, a panicking Shinsengumi member barged into the room, kneeling and hitting his head on the floor with a resounding thud as he bowed. "KYOKUCHO! ONE OF OUR MEMBERS WAS ATTACKED AND MIHOSHI-SAN WAS ABDUCTED!"

Kondo shot up immediately, running towards the direction Rae and his member had gone a few minutes ago. Okita lifted his sleep mask off, ready to join in the fun.

"Who the hell dared to attack our Shinsengumi?! And in our headquarters too!" The Shinsengumi men were whispering, some helping to carry the member who was escorting Rae to the infirmary. He was cut across the chest and bleeding profusely.

"Hayashi! Who did this? Where is Mihoshi-san?" Kondo stopped in front of the member who was currently lying on the stretcher.

"Kyokucho...t-there was a man who suddenly a-appeared...I- I didn't see his face, but he attacked me and took Mihoshi-san away." Hayashi forced out, coughing out blood.

"I need to find Lord Matsudaira. Rest well, Hayashi."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[[Notes from 2015:]]]  
> Fun fact: Kagai (Aikake's first name) means evil
> 
> Honestly, this idea of another faction trying to overthrow the Shogun just popped up in my head. I'm stuck with this, I guess. This happens before Courtesan of A Nation arc, going by timeline...but who cares, I'm just going to throw in as many characters as I like. I am making a conscious effort to avoid similarities with the original SA arc.
> 
> Ah. I want to be a cheeseburger.


	9. Back to ‘Prison’

It all happened in a flash, a dark shadow taking out her escort with one skilled swipe of his katana.

Rae could only utter words of disbelief. "You..." And here she thought that she would be safe within the walls of the Shinsengumi. Aikake's reach was longer than she thought.

Rae's conciousness faded away into darkness as the intruder knocked the butt of his sword against her temple.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Saito Shimaru was on his way to the toilet, his fluffy orange hair rustling in the wind. Something interesting happened today: a woman actually came to find Kondo-san and Hijikata-san.

He was curious what kind of woman actually dared to step into this den of sexually-frustrated, unhygienic, smelly men. Saito wanted to crowd together with the rest of the Shinsengumi members at the meeting hall door, but was too shy to do so. The thought of it already made his stomach ache.

He overheard from the passing men later on that the woman was a jaw-dropping beauty, but sadly, was horribly scarred. This piqued his interest even more.

Saito finished his business at the toilet, but his senses were tingling with that feeling of something wrong happened. He walked down the opposite way he came from, keeping his footfalls silent.

He caught a glimpse of a woman being stuffed into a black burlap sack by a suspiciously dressed man. The man with the covered face checked his surroundings and Saitou ducked behind a wall at the last moment. The intruder then heaved the burlap sack over his shoulder and leapt over the wall to the outside. Saitou didn't grasp the situation until he saw one of the Shinsengumi men lying in his pool of blood on the floor.

Saito was beside the injured man in a split second.

 _Hayashi._ Saito recognized him from the 5th Division. He checked that Hayashi was still breathing before leaving a note " _ **Saito Shimaru on the chasez."**_ right beside Hayashi.

The woman he saw earlier must be the woman that came this morning to find Kondo-san and Hijikata-san. Saito took one last look at Hayashi, then vaulted over the wall to chase after the intruder.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

"Kyokcuho! Fukucho!" Another member of the Shinsengumi called out, waving a piece of paper frantically in the air at the leaders in the distance.

Hijikata and Kondo turned to find one of their men handing over a piece of paper. "This paper was found beside Hayashi—written by the 3rd Division captain."

Hijikata took the paper from his man, reading it together with Kondo.

"Saito Shimaru on the chasez." Hijikata gave a short laugh and passed the paper back to his man.

"Seems like Shimaru always has a luck for weeding out intruders and spies." Kondo chuckled. "Shimaru will update us on his situation, all we can do is wait. I'll make a visit to Lord Matsudaira right away. Toshi, take over for me."

"Mm."

"Should we inform the Yorozuya? I mean, she was with them the other day before." Kondo stopped in his tracks and turned back to Hijikata as he suddenly remembered.

Okita stepped up, chewing on a bubblegum. "Gori-san, I'll go inform them." _Just nice, I can see China girl again. Heh. I'll win this time._

Hijikata scowled at Okita, knowing that Okita was finding a chance to slip out from his duties again. "You bastard, better come back in 2 hours or I'll force you to commit seppuku."

"Hijikata-san, the drive from Kyoto here to Kabukicho already takes an hour. You can't expect me to be back here in exactly two hours. I don't have a teleporter. " He obnoxiously blew a bubble in his superior's face. "But I can teleport you from here to Hell in one second though." Okita finished while he fired a rocket launcher this time.

"Shut up! 3 hours! Be back in 3 hours!"

Kondo was already well on his way to Matsudaira's home estate by the time Hijikata and Okita were done squabbling.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Rae was getting used to headaches. She had so many these past few days the pain of her head throbbing did not even register anymore.

 _Urgh. Where am I?_ Rae opened her eyes to find a familiar ceiling. Too familiar.

 _Fuck my life!_ She escaped only to be caught again. Anger and frustration welled up within Rae and she struggled against the rough ropes that bound her to the bed. Rae had bet on the Shinsengumi to keep her safe from being taken back to Aikake; if Kondo had not extended the invitation for her to stay at the Headquarters, she would have thrown away her pride and begged to be able to stay. However, it still didn't make a single bit of a difference.

"AAAAAAAAAA!" Rae strained against the ropes and screamed all her frustration out.

"Screaming here won't make a difference, my cupcake." Aikake's smooth, baritone voice sounded through the room. "No one will come to your rescue."

 _No. NO. He's the last person I want to see!_ Rae continued screaming in her mind. Colourful curse words were fired telepathically at the dastardly face of Aikake. Rae pulled at the ropes again in a useless attempt to escape.

"Ohoho. _**Cupcake**_ , your hate-filled eyes are really pretty, do you know that? Unfortunately, you gained so many scars on your beautiful body. What happened, Cupcake? Do I need to dispose of some men?" Aikake came forward, dragging his long fingers lightly on Rae's face. His cold fingers left a trail of goosebumps over Rae's skin, and Rae involuntary shivered.

 _Disgusting!_ "Don't touch me!" Rae yelled, turning her face away from Aikake's fingers. She hated Aikake's nickname for her. _**Cupcake.**_ It sounded like a snack which Aikake wanted to savour, slowly eating it bit by bit.

It was true for Aikake's case. He wanted to eat Rae, taste her, savour her, _touch her, feel her._ Ever since she escaped with Yura, no other women were as satisfying as Rae, and the anger invoked by Rae occupied his mind day and night. He had no other eyes for other women before he could get rid of Rae from his mind.

" _ **Cupcake,**_ did you think you could escape from me?" Aikake leaned in close and breathed into Rae's ear. "I am Aikake Kagai. You run from me, you expect hell from me. Get it?" His tone dropped to an icy cool and he clutched Rae's face, forcibly turning it to face him.

Aikake bore his fingers into the soft flesh of her face. "Your friends. Yorozuya, was it? Interesting. I'll have their heads skewered on poles. I leniently gave you a few days of freedom, and you went and made friends, then went to the Shinsengumi to complain about me? Amazing feat. You'll have their innards for breakfast as a reward tommorow. I heard human meat is quite the delicacy." Aikake emotionlessly said, exiting the room in one swift movement.

Rae wanted to break down and cry her heart out. In the end, she still dragged the Yorozuya into her mess; the Shinsengumi too. Aikake was never one to let his prey escape, there was no chance they can survive his attack or lead their normal lives anymore.

_Its all because of me. Its always me. I am the bane of this world. Because of me._

Silent tears broke from her barrier and slid down, staining the bed. _Me, me, me, me._ She chanted over and over in her head. Rae wanted to hit herself. She wanted to release her self-hatred and guilt with each carve into her dirty, lacerated body.

The door opened, a short haired woman wearing the attire of a kitchen maid hurried into the room, carrying a tray of food.

She gasped in horror at her friend, tray nearly slipping from her grasp. Not caring whether the guards were watching, she ran over and put the tray down, stroking Rae's head with love.

"Rae, don't cry. I'll find a way to save you, don't cry, all right?" The woman whispered into Rae's ear, and wiped the tears away drippng down the sides of Rae's face. She had never seen Rae cry in her four years of service, and even sometimes she wanted to cry in Rae's stead.

Seeing her break down now was heart-rending.

Reciprocating tears flowed from Maiko's eyes as she looked at the dead gaze of her friend. Maiko hugged Rae, soothing her by humming a lullaby, and Maiko traced the long scars decorated on Rae's arms. She didn't dare to ask Rae how she got these scars, because she didn't want to confirm her suspicion that Rae had did this to herself.

"Maiko..." Rae climbed out from her world of self-reproach, and seeing her friend sobbing with her brought a wave of fresh tears.

"Don't, Maiko, you will get punished later...this...this room has cameras in all corners. Don't get too close to me or you will suffer too, please. _**Please don't**_."

Maiko straightened, her lip trembling with the effort of pushing back tears. Rae was right, she had to keep her distance for now and avoid suspicion, so she would be able to freely rescue Rae later. Maiko turned to the warm tray of food, and picked up a spoon, ladling some soup. She tenderly fed Rae each mouth, until all the food was finished.

Brushing Rae's tangled hair back from her face, Maiko promised her that she would be back, and then the door clicked close behind Maiko. The room felt empty and cold without Maiko's loving presence.

A crash of porcelain was heard and a voice that had just been speaking to her a matter of seconds ago pierced through the air.

"NO! NO! LET ME GO! I DID NOTHING WRONG!"

_Oh my god. Aikake. Nononononononono_

"MAIKO! MAIKO! DON'T TAKE HER AWAY! PLEASE! STOP IT!" Rae screamed and lunged towards the door, the thick, taut rope cutting into her wrists and ankles. Warm, scarlet liquid trailed down her arms, decorating the bedsheet. The screams of Maiko abruptly came to an end.

"I BEG YOU! LET MAIKO GO! PLEASE! I WILL DO ANYTHING!" The ropes burned into her flesh but Rae took no heed of the excruciating pain. "Please... _ **please don't take her away.**_ " Rae's shrieks dissolved into a mere whisper as sobs wracked her body.

She wanted to curl up and run from this place of neverending nightmares. _MAIKO! YURA! Whymewhyisitmeitsalwaysmewhywhywhywhywhy—_ Rae bawled her eyes out, slamming the back of her head repeatedly against the soft bed.

Aikake watched Rae from the cameras, smiling to himself. He wasn't done yet. This was just the tip of the iceberg. He had many, many exciting plans for Rae.

But what Aikake didn't know, was that another pair of red eyes were watching Rae too.


	10. (Can’t think of one)

Hijikata's cell phone vibrated in his pocket, signaling a new message. He flipped the phone open only to see Saito's message. It was short and sweet, with only: **_Aikake estatez. Still watchingz. No physical harm yet (if you count rope burns), only psychologicalz. Aikake is a dickz. Orderz?_**

Hijikata wanted to throw the phone across the room. _What psychological harm?! EXPLAIN IT SHIMARU! Your messages are too short and sweet!_

Hijikata sucked the remaining mayo from a bottle and typed furiously into his cell phone.

**_H: Explain the psychological harm, Shimaru. Continue watching. Don't make any moves yet, the situation is very precarious. Mihoshi-san is our only lead in the Save Our Shogun plan, SOS for short. Update me every hour._ **

**_S: Fukucho, Aikake took Mihoshi-san's friend awayz. Mihoshi-san went ballistic and seemed to be blaming herselfz. What is the SOS planz?_ **

**_H: Long story short, Aikake & Hitotsubashi faction are working together to overthrow the Shogun. Kondo-san is meeting up with Lord Matsudaira now. Shit, I can't believe we let her get taken right under our noses._ **

**_S: What about Mihoshi-sanz?_ **

**_H: Help her as much as you can. She is a slave who escaped from Aikake._ **

Hijikata lit another cigarette to relieve his stress. There was no more replies from Shimaru. He had already gone through 3 packets of nicotine sticks, and it was only afternoon now. Speaking of the time—

"WHERE IS THAT DO-S BASTARD?! Its been 5 hours!"

Hijikata stormed out of his room.

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Things weren't going so well on Yorozuya's end.

Shinpachi and Kagura only found out Rae had left without so much as a goodbye to them in the morning. Shinpachi was worried about Rae's wellbeing, Kagura was—well, she was hungry.

Gintoki was very troubled about something, but no one knew what he was thinking about. "Patsuan, Mihoshi-san won't take her life lightly this time, so don't get your tighty whities in a twist over it."

"I do not wear tighty whities! And what do you mean by—"

A knock interrupted them at the door. Shinpachi went up to reject whatever door-to-door salesman this time, but it was the shinigami tayuu instead.

"Tsukuyo-san! What are you doing here?" Shinpachi invited her in, but she didn't enter.

"Is Mihoshi-san here?"

"No, she left early in the morning. We didn't even get a chance to see her."

Tsukuyo only then strode in, making herself right at home under the kotatsu.

"So? What news do you have?" Gintoki didn't bother with a greeting and went straight to the point.

"I dug up some information with the help of the Benigumoto (Red Spiders). Apparently Aikake dabbled in some slavery trade with the Chidori, he has hundreds of women slaves in his estate. The name list didn't include Mihoshi-san's name though, she must have been bought off somewhere else." **(A/N: Benigumoto are the band of thieves with the spider tattoo, under Jiraia, Tsukuyo's master)**

"Benigumoto? How did you end up working with them?" Gintoki frowned as he was reminded of Jiraia. Kagura and Shinpachi kept silent, confused at the turn of conversation.

"They still don't know that Master is dead. So I just borrowed Master's name and forced them to do some investigating for me."

"Oh? You crafty woman."

"Tsukki! Gin-chan! What are you two talking about?"Kagura, fed up of being left out of the situation, slammed the table to break the stare between Gin and Tsukuyo.

"Kagura, Shinpachi, listen up. Mihoshi-san is a slave from the Aikake estate. She escaped with her friend, but it seems that her friend was unfortunately killed. Possibly the reason why she keeps trying to take her own life too." Tsukuyo dropped the bomb on them.

"Huh? What? A slave? Wait. Aikake?!" Shinpachi reeled with all the new information.

"Ah! Aikake! I saw him on TV in an episode of ' _ **Gyouretsu no dekiri Houritsu Soudanjo**_ '**! He's some bakufu lord or something, uh-huh." Kagura finally remembered the gray-eyed man from the show.

"He's the hot topic nowadays. He has hordes of fangirls and noble families asking for him to marry their daughters." Shinpachi recalled a newspaper article on him he had read the other day before.

"Hold on, he's got hundreds of slaves? Isn't he a Bakufu official? Slavery is banned in Edo!" Shinpachi continued, "Mihoshi-san was one of them?"

"Yeah. The Bakufu is hopelessly corrupted."

Kagura sat up suddenly, her mental Sadist-radar/ S-dar sending waves of warning signals to her. She grabbed the purple umbrella beside her and fired at the front door.

Through the bullet holes in the front door, a lazy voice drawled on the other side. "China girl, is that how you welcome your guests? No wonder you don't have any friends."

"SADIST! WHY ARE YOU HERE HUH?! You piece of shit, today is the day I take your head!"

"Calm down China, I came to find danna and you guys because of Mihoshi Rae."

Kagura stopped mid-swing, the force of her umbrella whipping Okita's hair around.

"What?" Kagura spat out, and Shinpachi came over to invite him in.

"Mihoshi-san came to find us this morning, and she asked us to help her investigate Aikake. I presume you guys already know Aikake and Mihoshi-san's relation?"

"What did you really come here for, Souichiro-kun?" Gintoki knew the bishounen was still keeping the juicy bits.

"Mihoshi-san was abducted by the Aikake if my hunch is correct, right in our headquarters. And danna, my name is Sougo."

"What?! And?" It was Tsukuyo who asked this time.

"Oh, Tsukuyo-san, glad to see you aren't drunk this time." Tsukuyo aimed a kunai between Okita's eyes but Okita tilted his head and let it fly past.

"Why did she make the trip to the Shinsengumi? How was she kidnapped? You guys are really some shitty police."

"Like I said, Danna, she wanted us, the Bakufu dogs to check up on Aikake's collection of slaves, but we rejected her." Okita took a seat opposite the trio, next to Tsukuyo. "Then she said that the Aikake and Hitotsubashi were working together to overthrow Shogun-sama, and she has an exclusive scoop about it all. She was taken away before we could gather any more information about that. We thought it would be obligatory to inform you that she was kidnapped."

Kagura's mouth opened, her sukonbu falling to the floor. Shinpachi's glasses cracked.

"Sadist! And you let Rae-chan get taken away like that?! Aren't you the police, uh huh?!"

"Shimaru-nii san is following her."

"WAIT WAIT! THIS IS HUGE! Mihoshi-san is in danger! And the Shogun too?!"

"I just said that."

Gintoki face-kotatsued. _This is getting out of hand. Ah, what a nuisance!_

Multiple presences surrounded the building, and all 5 of them snapped into battle mode as they sensed them.

"They are here to eliminate us." Okita wrapped his hand around the hilt of his Kiku-Ichimonji, and drew it slightly.

"What? Who?"

"From the Aikake family, of course." Gintoki readied into his battle stance as everyone else did the same.

A few seconds of silence, as everyone confirmed the locations of the assassins and picked a few of their liking.

"Go!" Gintoki commanded and jumped out one of the windows, engaging three assassins in clash and sparks.

The other four split and exited through doors and windows alike, each taking on several assassins. Shinpachi always kept an extra sword in the Yorozuya house and he finally had the chance to test his new tendo mushin ryuu technique he recently learned.

Kagura bashed one of the heads of the assassin in with one swing of her umbrella, kicking another in the process.

Okita was skewering them on his katana like shish-kebab. And he swung one guy's arm that was impaled on his blade around, not bothering to shake the appendage off.

Tsukuyo outclassed the assassins in her kunai throwing, and even went for some cockshots. An assassin clutched his bleeding sausage and manberries in one hand and tried escaping, but was cut down by Shinpachi.

Passer-bys screamed and added some sound effects to the impromptu battle.

"Follow me." Gintoki finished on his side and waved to the others. They hurried off into the direction of Katsura's territory, the Jouishishi, leaving piles of groaning/unconscious assassins on the ground.

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Hijikata was about to take one of the cars and drive down to the Yorozuya, but a message from Okita came right at that moment.

**SA (sadist asshole): Yo, Hijibaka-san, I'm with the Yorozuya and Tsukuyo-san Jouishishi village.**

**[A/N: These names are in Hijikata's contacts, Saito was just listed as Shimaru (S)]**

**H: WTF are you doing there! Get back here now!**

**SA: We were chased by Aikake's men. They came to shut us up, and now they are all patrolling the streets, looking for us. They won't dare to enter the Joui territory. Any news from Gorilla?**

**H: Not yet.**

**SA: The Shinsengumi are going to get targeted by that prissy lord next. Hope you will be the first to die.**

**H: Shut up, I'm going to call Kondo-san.**

**SA: Btw, Katsura is planning to storm the Aikake estate, he says that the Shogun is only his to kill to fulfill some kind of promise he made with the Shogun. Says he won't let some scum Bakufu officials overthrow Sho-chan, because its his job.**

**H: Oh? That makes things easier for us. On second thoughts, stay together with the Yorozuya and spy on Katsura.**

**SA: Hai, Fukucho.**

Hijikata was really getting worried about Kondo, he had not replied to his messages & calls for the past few hours. Hijikata dialled Kondo's number, but it didn't go to voicemail this time.

"Kondo-san! How was the talk between Lord Matsudaira and you?"

"Ah, Toushirouuu. This is Matsudaira. You know what this means right?" The rock-and-roll voice that belonged to Hijikata's superior sounded through the speaker.

A shadow passed over Hijikata's face. _Don't tell me..._

"Where is Kondo-san?"

"With my daughter and wife, locked up somewhere."

Hijikata caught on to Matsudaira's meaning right away.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[[Notes from 2015:]]]  
> Did yall get Matsudaira-sama's meaning? Leave a comment if you are thinking what I'm thinking. Maybe some theories on this plot would be fun to read too ;)
> 
> Sorry, I guess this would be the filler chapter of this story. *scratches head* Eh, I'm trying to buy more time for me to figure the rest of how this story will go, because it's still in a mess. The more characters I introduce, the harder it is to link them all up together.
> 
> **Gyouretsu no dekiri Houritsu Soudanjo = Legal Office: Advice so good you stand in line
> 
> Its a show in Japan which discusses legal matters such as current law issues etc. It is quite an enjoyable one with different types guests (comedians, actors...) and 2 hosts.
> 
> In any case yall are wondering how Sougo knows Tsukuyo, its during the Host Club arc with Madame Yagami.


	11. Like Totally

**_Hours ago~_ **

A servant went to announce Kondo's arrival to the Matsudaira estate.

Kondo took the chance to look over the house. It was large, and seemed more severely understaffed than the previous times he had been here. Only one servant was in the yard airing the laundry, and the other was off announcing his arrival.

Kondo furrowed his eyebrows in suspicion. The recent economic recession couldn't have much impact on the Matsudaira house's finances, so why are most of their servants gone?

The servant came back at the exact moment and guided Kondo to the reception hall. Matsudaira Katakuriko was lounging in his cushion seat, a cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Kondooo. Welcome. Have some tea."

"Matsudaira-san, I came to discuss important things about the Shogun with you."

"About Sho-chan?" Matsudaira gestured to the cup of tea for Kondo.

"Do you know about the alliance between the Aikake faction and Hitotsubashi faction?" Kondo sipped from his tea, noticing something written on the bottom of the cup. He drew his eyes back up to avoid suspicion from Matsudaira.

"Ah, those brats, they can't keep their greed under control. I suppose you already know they have this craaaazy idea of overthrowing Sho-chan, coming here to find me." Matsudaira looked pointedly at Kondo's cup of tea. Kondo frowned a little. Something was going on.

Kondo picked up the cup of tea and downed half of the liquid, the words written at the bottom of the cup in full view.

**_Act drugged._ **

Kondo obeyed immediately. "Lord Matsudaira, I shall ask now as a friend of the Shogun, are you on our side, or on the ene...enemy's..." Kondo blinked like his vision was blurring.

"Lord Matsudaira! Dont...tell me you..." Kondo put on a convincing act of being betrayed by his trusted superior. He stood up, swaying, a hand on his katana. However, before he could draw it out, masked guards jumped out from every crevice and stood in front of Matsudaira, protecting him from Kondo.

Kondo rolled his eyes back into his head, and dropped to the floor like a puppet whose strings got severed. He kept a fraction of this eyes open, peeking through his eyelashes at the scene before him.

Matsudaira sat there silently with a brooding look, as the masked guards moved on their own accord without waiting for an instruction from Matsudaira and tied Kondo up securely.

"Lord Matsudaira, thank you for your cooperation. If you continue assisting us in our mission, you will be rewarded handsomely when this ends." One of the masked guards spoke to Matsudaira, and signalled to the rest to carry Kondo to the holding area.

Kondo almost gave himself away when he heard it. _Matsudaira-san! Shit. I should have known the moment I noticed most of the servants were gone. He is working with the Aikake-Hitotsubashi faction! But why did he help me?_

Matsudaira skillfully shot a bullet at the masked guard who spoke, but the bullet did not take the guard's life. Instead, it marked a smoking hole into the wall behind him, a hair breadth's away from entering the guard's head. The guard didn't flinch.

"Youu bastard. Handsome reward? Don't kid me. The only reward I will get is those brats getting rid of me after Sho-chan is overthrown." Matsudaira puffed out smoke and glared at the immobile guard.

"Lord Matsudaira, what are you talking about? You will be one of the meritorious officials who helped the future shogun into his seat. Of course we won't get rid of you." The guard stood eye to eye with Matsudaira, as if daring him to make a move on him.

Kondo could not see the rest of the exchange as the men carrying him turned a corner, disarmed him and bound him to a chair. He was thrown literally, chair and all, into a room.

The room was unexpectedly flowery. It looked exactly like a young girl's room, except the center of the room had been cleared out to place something else. Kondo cursed in his mind as he realised what that 'something' was.

It was Matsudaira's daughter, Matsudaira Kuriko.

"Oh my, is this Kondo-san, like totally?"

"Kuriko-chan! What are you doing here?!" Kondo yelled in surprise, rocking the chair to move to a better position.

"Ah, I was taken as a hostage. My mother was taken too, she's in the room next door. I don't know what happened, but is my dad okay, like totally?", her face saddened as she thought of her predicament, "Our house is under some other weird men's control, like, totally." The young girl was not tied up, probably because her paranoid father had demanded her to be free.

Kondo ran through the complicated situation in his mind. Lord Matsudaira's family was taken as hostage, and Matsudaira was coerced into working with the Aikake-Hitotsubashi. Matsudaira may be a friend of the Shogun, but he was a husband and a father first and foremost.

"Your father is alive and healthy. Could you untie me?"

Kuriko's hand flew to her mouth. "No, like, totally! I...A girl alone in a room with a guy...I have Mayora-sama! He is a prince from the Planet of Mayonnaise! Like totally! He is my boyfriend!"

Kondo wanted hit his head repeatedly against the wall. _My one and only love is Otae-san! Like hell I would be interested in you! And isn't she talking about Toshi?_

"Don't worry, Kuriko-chan, I have a girlfriend too. Her name is Otae."

"Oh, really, like totally? Congratulations!" Kuriko walked over and began untying the complicated knots on Kondo.

Kondo tried every possible exit after being released from his ropes, but they were all nailed shut, or guarded by men. They decided to settle down for a round of UNO when the door opened and Matsudaira rushed in.

"KURIKOO! Have you been eating and sleeping well?!" Matsudaira came to an abrupt stop in front of Kuriko. It looked like he wanted to hug her but stopped himself before it could happen.

Kuriko looked like she wanted to hug her father too, but like father like daughter, she stopped awkwardly in front of Matsudaira too. Kondo went -_-|l|

"Daddy, I'm fine. And I have Kondo over here to keep me company, like totally!"

Matsudaira walked over and put his face right up to Kondo's, a dark aura leaking out and wrapping itself around Kondo. "Kondo. Don't you dare touch my daughter, get it? If you do, I'll shoot your dick off and feed it to the dogs." Of course, Matsudaira lowered his volume so only Kondo could hear it.

"Y-yes, Sir." Kondo wanted to tell the General Commander that he wasn't interested in his daughter but he was afraid that Matsudaira might get offended instead that he wasn't interested in his oh-so-lovely-and-innocent daughter. _Fathers. Sigh._

"Are you guys playing UNO without this old man, huh?"

"Daddy, do you want to join in, like totally? The more the merrier, like, totally."

Kondo dealt all the cards, while Matsudaira rambled on and on about how he used to be a whizz at UNO. Matsudaira glanced at Kondo, and extracted a notepad hidden in the inside pocket of his coat. Matsudaira never stopped talking as he wrote on the notepad. Kuriko, as foolish as she might seem sometimes, knew her father was secretly avoiding the eyes and ears of the guards right outside the door.

The sound of the pen scratching was covered by Kuriko's fake laughter as she joined in Matsudaira's act.

 _ **Both factions will request Shogun to promote Aikake Kagai for a position of the recently-vacated roju**_ *(1) ** _tomorrow during morning court._**

 ** _Aikake Kagai may be young and its u_** _ **sually impossible for a newbie, but Aikake has backing from most of daimyo**_ *(2) _ **and Hitotsubashi. I am forced to support as well. Once Aikake is promoted, even Lord Sadasada will not be able to suppress them. A mutiny with the troop strength of the entire country cannot be stopped.**_

Matsudaira was running out of topics to babble about and he signalled to Kondo with his pistol to start talking over for him.

"Ah! Uh, oh! Recently Otae-san had..." Kondo took over, trying to multitask speaking, reading and playing UNO at the same time.

**_I will tell Toushirou about this. The rest is up to him. I cannot do anything._ **

Kondo looked at Matsudaira frantically. He waggled his eyebrows in silent speak to Matsudaira, still droning on how thinking about Otae-san gets him up. Matsudaira's dad-senses activated and covered Kuriko's ears upon hearing the filthy words spewing out of Kondo's mouth.

_Matsudaira-san! Toushi can't do anything either!_

Matsudaira twisted his face back in reply.

_A man can do anything! If there's a will, there's a way!_

Matsudaira ended the conversation with a loud "UNO!". Then Matsudaira threw a random card and smirked, "I win. Time's up. This old man has to get going. I'll be back, Kuriko." He stuffed the notepad back into his large coat.

Guards entered the room and opened the door, leading Matsudaira out. They glared suspiciously at Kondo who was no longer tied up and surprisingly awake from the drug, but said nothing.

Kondo was dumbstruck. _That old man cheated! He didn't win UNO! I did!_

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

**_Present~_ **

"Toushirou. Can you hear me? I'm entrusting the Shinsengumi funds to you temporarily. There are ten accounts in total. Note down the passwords now, I'll tell you."

Hijikata on the other line nudged the phone in between the crook of this neck and shoulder, and wrote down each number furiously as Matsudaira prattled off. Both knew that this long string of numbers weren't the password to the accounts.

It was a secret code that the Shinsengumi always used.

This phone call was definitely monitored by the Aikake-Hitotsubashi men. They had to be careful not to divulge themselves. The Shinsengumi didn't have ten accounts, but it isn't likely that the men monitoring would know.

"Got it? I don't repeat myself. Once is enough. A man only needs to know the number 1 to live."

"Yes, Matsudaira-sama!"

Matsudaira hanged up immediately.

The Internet is the Shinsengumi's best friend. There was an all-mighty website that decoded all sorts of secret codes. Hijikata entered the long string of numbers that took up a whole piece of paper into the website.

A vein protruded from Hijikata's temple as he read the fucking long message that contained information on Matsudaira's current situation and the plans of the Aikake-Hitotsubashi faction. _The hell does it mean that everything is up to me?!_

Hijikata ran his hand irritatedly through his hair then picked up his cell phone to relay the information to Okita.

And so, information was passed over to the Yorozuya and the Joui rebels.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

It was a weird combination of the Yorozuya trio, a shinigami tayuu, a Shinsengumi cop, a penguin-duck, all surrounded by numerous Joui rebels.

Everyone leaned forward as Okita put Hijikata on speaker mode.

"Hijikata here. I've got the good news and the bad news. Which one do you guys want to hear first?"

"Good news first, rotten vice chief."

"Don't pretend you're from I Don't Understand Republic, Sougo!"

"Just tell us the news already, Mayora!"

"Good news is that Lord Matsudaira is on our side. That's all."

"That's all?! Just how bad is the bad news?!" Shinpachi grabbed the phone and yelled into it.

"Aish! My ear! Now keep quiet!"

Hijikata explained the precarious situation, and the faces of the people listening in changed with each sentence: some with confusion, some with horror, some still with that same old dead-fish look.

"It's evening now. We only have one night to stop this shit from going down." Hijikata's deep voice crackled through the phone, tension thick and heavy in the air.

"ALL RIGHT! GEAR UP MEN, WE ARE ATTACKING TONIGHT!"

"YES!" The Joui rebels roared, shaking their fists enthusiastically into the air in response to Katsura.

"DO YOU WANT TO DIE, YOU DUMB PRICKS?!" Hijikata shouted, Okita's cell phone vibrating intensely from the volume.

The Joui rebels booed at him.

"IF YOU GUYS COULD STORM THE CASTLE AND TAKE OVER EDO YOU ALL WOULD HAVE DONE IT LONG AGO!" Okita's phone did an amazing somersault in the air.

"Oi, Zura, I hate to agree with this Mayo-idiot, but he is right." Gintoki stretched out on the floor, kicking Shinpachi to the side to make more space for his legs.

"Zura ja nai! Katsura da!"

"Gin-san! You're making shoeprints on my clothes! I'll bleach all your clothes white!" Shinpachi reached over to wrench Gintoki's boots off, and one boot planted into Tsukuyo's ample bosom.

"Wha—WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!" Tsukuyo burned bright red, and lashed out with a flurry of kunais. The room was in complete disarray as everyone did their best to dodge the deadly weapons.

"It was just my boot! I didn't grope you!"

"I'll show you what the Jouishishi are capable of! ARE YOU READY?! REMEMBER TO BRING THE JOUI BANNER TO HANG UP ON THE CASTLE WHEN WE SUCCEED! AND THE PARTY POPPERS TOO!" Katsura was already up and raring to go.

Elizabeth supported him silently with a white sign that said: **YEAAAAAAAAAAH (we have no money for any balloons)**

Okita assailed Kagura while she was distracted and jabbed one of her peni—COUGH— hair accessory. Kagura screamed bloody murder and opened fire at Okita, "THAT WAS MY FAVOURITE HAIR ACCESSORY!"

"OI! YOU BASTARDS! GET BACK HERE RIGHT THIS SECOND!" Okita's phone skittered across the floor as a Joui rebel stepped back into it to avoid a chunk of the ceiling from crushing him. Hijikata's voice was lost in the din of the brawl.

Hijikata raged quit and hung up on them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[[Notes from 2015:]]]  
> Glossary
> 
> (1)*roju: Translated as 'Elder', can refer to Council of Elders too
> 
> One of the highest ranking position in the bakufu
> 
> (2) *daimyo:
> 
> The great feudal lords of Edo
> 
> They are split into 3 categories: shinpan, fudai, tozama
> 
> Shinpan: direct relatives of the Shogun- Matsudaira clan is one IRL, and in this story Hitotsubashi is one too
> 
> They normally hold honorary or advisory positions in bakufu
> 
> Fudai: consists of allies, hereditary vassals- the Aikake clan in this story is one
> 
> Many of them hold positions in the bakufu, and most of the roju are chosen from the fudai
> 
> Tozama: consists of former opponents, 'outside vassals', new allies
> 
> Least trusted of all in the daimyo, are excluded from central govt positions


	12. Closet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yohohohoho its a me— 2018 Author-san that came here to remind a you that this was back in— 
> 
> “Shut up! Everyone knows already! Just keep quiet!” Random reader screams and kicks Author-san down a drain.

Hijikata had floored the gas pedal and broke all speeding restrictions that could land him a life sentence if only he wasn't the police. The trip from the Shinsengumi Headquarters to Kabukicho which originally took an hour only took Hijikata fifteen minutes.

He had arrived to a room which looked like it had gone through Katy Perry's 'Last Friday Night' party, with the exception of more blood and structural **_destruction_** to the room.

Hijikata somehow calmed everyone down, and got everyone settled for a conference of plans. To start, Hijikata was forced to shake hands with Katsura, to make clear that Shinsengumi and Jouishishi were collaborating for once. The rebels yelled their approval and some trendy rebels even wanted selfies with the famed Demon Vice-Commander.

Needless to say, those said rebels were crying by the corner seconds later.

"Can we start this now?" Hijikata huffed, plopping down next to Katsura and Gintoki.

"Oi Mayora, where is the Aikake estate?"

"It's west of the O-Edo Terminal—wait, where are you going?"

The Yorozuya trio unanimously stood up with Tsukuyo, staring at Hijikata with a 'Duh' look.

"Off to save my friend obviously, you idiot v-shape."

"There are still Aikake's men queueing up out there trying to butcher you!"

"I can butcher them instead." Gintoki coolly replied.

"Shimaru is there, he will rescue Mihoshi-san for you guys."

"That guy with that pile of orange fleece for hair? Pssh, he'll fall asleep and kill Mihoshi and himself.

"He's a capable captain of the Shinsengumi, unlike you, you loafing piece of shit."

Shinpachi intervened before things got any more heated between the two polar-opposites, flapping his arms like a chicken to garner attention. "You two! Stop it! This is not the time to be arguing!"

Gintoki and Hijikata were eye to eye, and Katsura slotted himself in between, breaking the tension.

"Calm down, Hijikata-dono, Gintoki. I have a plan."

White permed hair and straight black hair turned to give the evil eye to Katsura. "What."

"LET'S TRASH THE AIKAKE VERMIN INSTEAD! WHO'S WITH ME?!"

"ARRRRRH!" The Joui rebels were all pumped up.

"How is it? Hm? Hijikata-dono? Gintoki? I've always wanted to do that to a Bakufu official since the beginning of time." Katsura grinned, patting both unamused men on the backs.

•—•

Hijikata covered his face with his hands tiredly, and mumbled, "Do whatever you want." He was drained from everything which seemed to be heading down the wrong track. He could understand Gintoki's mentality to save his friend, because he was aching to march down to the Matsudaira estate and save his beloved commander as well.

But Kondo is safer right there with Matsudaira. Hijikata would just have to get this whole matter over and retrieve that gorilla back.

"Ah. Gin-chan. I just remembered that there is a way that I could enter the castle, uh-huh." Kagura triumphantly raised a packet of sukonbu she always kept with her. "The princess is my best friend, uh-huh."

"EEEEEEEEHHHHH?!" Everyone crashed on their faces, legs twitching comically in the air.

"Ka-Kagu...ra...h-how do you know the Princess? WHY DIDN'T WE KNOW THAT THE PRINCESS IS YOUR BEST FRIEND?! WHAT OTHER SECRETS HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING FROM US?!" Gintoki gushed out.

"Kagura-chan, are you sure that your best friend is the princess? Like, the real, REAL princess, sister of the Shogun?" Shinpachi pushed his glasses up, trying to think of instances he had seen the princess together with Kagura. He drew up a blank.

"Wha-you guys have such lousy memories! Don't you remember me having a sleepover with Soyo-chan during the Confessional Arc? You jerks barged into Soyo-chan's room in the middle of the night going all 'Leader leader'!" Gintoki and Katsura shuddered as they recollected Kagura absorbing every single men in the room into a deep dark abyss underneath that blanket.

"Oh shit. I totally forgot about that." Gintoki slapped his forehead with his palm.

"Kagura-chan! Why couldn't you tell us that earlier?" Shinpachi decided that he needed to watch the Gintama DVD collection and figure it out.

"Uh, I kinda forgot that Soyo-chan is the Princess, it just slips from my mind, uh-huh." Kagura munched on a piece of sukonbu, her face impassive.

"HOW THE HELL DO YOU JUST FORGET ABOUT SOYO-HIME BEING A PRINCESS?!" Hijikata spat, playing the straight-man role. Kagura shrugged and opened another packet.

Hijikata had gotten a hold over himself and was lighting up another cigarette. He drew a lungful of smoke before continuing. He wasn't Shinsengumi's Vice Commander for show; he had already thought up of a plan the moment Kagura mentioned her friendship with Soyo-hime.

"So, we'll split into two groups. One will rescue Mihoshi-san. The other will enter the castle with China girl, and try to stop Aikake's promotion." He smacked his hand on the tatami-covered floor. "Silver slob, you will be going with Yoshiwara lady, and Katsura will back up you guys. China girl, Glasses, Sougo, and me will be heading for the castle."

A series of protests erupted from the Yorozuya trio.

"I ain't taking orders from you, Oogushi-kun!"

"ITS SHINPACHI! NOT GLASSES! I HAVE A HUMAN BODY!"

"I DON'T WANT THAT SADISTIC ASSHOLE NEAR MY SOYO-CHAN!"

"OHOHOHO! This will be start another famous historical event! The Shiroyasha with Jouishishi, marauding the Bakufu!" Katsura boomed with laughter, and his men chorused behind him, "ANYTHING FOR THE SHIROYASHA!"

"I haven't seen the Princess in a while, it'll be nice to visit my fellow sadist." Okita responded blankly. Kagura shook her fist at Okita warningly while he smirked back at her.

"I'll make sure Kagura won't mess up and cause trouble." Shinpachi addressed Gintoki. "Go and save Mihoshi-san for us, Gin-san. We'll be waiting for the good news."

"Wait. Kagura-chan, bringing men to visit the Princess is not appropriate. The guards will not let you in definitely. We need to fool everyone at the castle that the Princess's best friend had brought more friends for a visit." Tsukuyo added in. "You haven't informed the Princess that you are coming over though, and it's late now."

"It's fine, I always visit Soyo-chan randomly at times, she won't object to a sudden sleepover party."

"You are not suggesting **_that_** , right?" Hijikata's cigarette slipped from his lips, gaping at whatever absurd idea that had crossed his mind. Shinpachi dived for the lighted cigarette before it could hit the tatami floor and burn down the whole building. Not that the building was near collapsing already.

"It is what you are thinking right now, Hijikata-shi."

Okita and Shinpachi had only caught to Tsukuyo's meaning seconds later. Their faces darkened, and Hijikata's eyes were bulging from his sockets. "No way—"

"Oh, you mean _**that**_?" Katsura trilled eagerly, cutting off Hijikata and walked over to a closet which miraculously had not been ruined in the earlier tumult. He threw open the door, showing all the contents in its full glory.

"This is my walk-in closet. I have every type of disguise you need! A leader needs to be able to adapt in every possible situation!" Katsura walked down the aisle in the closet, spreading his arms proudly at his grand collection of female clothing. It was any woman's dream closet. Shoes, accessories, bags lined one side of the immense walk-in closet. The other had thousands of outfits hanging from, ranging from clothes fit for a funeral to a wedding. (Katsura had 3 wedding dresses in pristine condition, gleaming in the installed lighting)

There were even stands which had neatly styled wigs placed upon the mannequin heads.

"Why is there a wig of my hair?! Zura! What have you been doing with it?!" Gintoki snatched a wig of an exact replica of Gin's silver curly hair off a mannequin head. "Is this Takasugi's hair?! Hold on. Zura, you didn't grow your hair out in 2 episodes after the Benizakura arc right? YOU USED A WIG RIGHT?" Gintoki yanked on another wig which was downright identical to Katsura's soft hair.

"KATSURA-SAN! I know you crossdress but-but this is too..." Shinpachi gesticulated wildly as he fumbled around for words.

"What kinds of situation do you adapt to?!" Hijikata hollered.

Elizabeth whipped out a white sign: THIS IS WHY THE JOUI IS LACKING FINANCIALLY.

Okita had already picked out a skimpy sparkly blue dress for Hijikata, and held it up against Hijikata's body. "Wow. This really suits you, Hijikata-san. You just need some watermelons for that flat chest of yours."

Hijikata gritted his teeth and swung a fist at Okita. "I'M NOT GOING DRESSED AS A FREAKING WOMAN!"

Kagura was flitting around delightedly in the midst of all the articles of clothing. Mind you, she may be an Amanto, but she was still a young girl.

"Now, now, Hijikata-dono, please don't rip up my Gucci dress, that was really expensive. And Zura ja nai! Katsura da!" Katsura raised his hand to stop Hijikata who was tearing at the abhorrently sparkly blue dress with his teeth and hands.

The Joui Rebels hooted and wolf-whistled at Okita who had come sashaying out of the huge closet decked in his female disguise. He had picked a wig close to his wheat coloured hair, and stuffed Nmaibo sticks that he found in a box at the back of the closet down in his outfit for some chunky boobs. He was fitted in a wine red kimono, accented with a black, fancy obi. He looked extremely convincing as a woman, except the only thing out of place was his Kiku-Ichimonji RX-78 attached at the side.

Tsukuyo exited the closet right behind Okita, appraising her handiwork, which in this case, was Okita.

Hijikata was dragged into the closet later on by the combined forces of Katsura and Tsukuyo, and he came back out, face flushing with embarrassment. At least he didn't look like a pig this time as compared to during the Dekobokko Arc. He made a pretty woman, his long black wig tied up in a ponytail just like during his younger days.

"Oh, look. Hijikata came out the closet." Okita cheered monotonously.

"Do you want me to kill you, bitch? I'm not gay!" Hijikata unsheathed his katana and pointed the sharp end in Okita's face. "This kimono is friggin restrictive! How do women even walk in this thing?" He complained as he slashed his katana ferociously at Okita, who was managing well in evading while wearing the kimono.

Shinpachi had experience in cross-dressing and helped himself into his usual braids and a random kimono by the side. He wiped his lenses on a corner of the kimono sleeve, and placed it on his nose before it slipped down again for a different reason.

Kagura was in a wedding gown.

It was tailored for Katsura, so it hung loosely on Kagura's small frame, and dragged along the floor. The intricate beads woven into the soft silk winked in the light. Kagura twirled around, the gown slipping off one shoulder. She ran (or stumbled due to gown's long hem) towards Gintoki, parading the outfit in front of her Earth dad. "Gin-chan! How do I look?"

Gintoki wiped his booger on Kagura's hair. "You look like the dress is swallowing you for breakfast."

Gintoki let out another amazing scream of his as Kagura slugged him.

"It's hard to move around in that, Kagura-chan. I think you should change back into your own clothes." Shinpachi gulped as he regarded her who looked absolutely comical in the ill-fitting gown.

"I'll tell you China, you look like a flouncy, ugly, clown in that dress. Still no sex-appeal at all." Kagura's eyes promised an excruciating death as she pummelled Okita.

With some reluctance, Kagura changed back into her own clothes. She was disappointed that no one at least tried to tell her that she looked pretty. Tsukuyo patted her head comfortingly, and smiled down at the red-haired girl. "You are already pretty with or without the dress."

Kagura beamed up at Tsukuyo, and hugged her midriff. "Tsukki~"

Next, two doubles were chosen for Tsukuyo and Gintoki. They switched clothing with one another, the Rebels completing the look with wigs from Katsura's collection. Kagura also wore a dark brown wig to hide her loud, vermillion hair. Katsura produced a black hair-colouring spray for Gintoki's eye-catching sliver hair.

5 minutes later, despite layers and layers of spray, Gintoki's hair could only be dulled to a dark grey. Gintoki cursed at his hair and threw the useless can, hitting a Joui Rebel in the balls.

"Your hair is just like you, a stubborn stain in society." Hijikata sneered at Gintoki's grey hair. "You look like a total old man."

"Shut up." Gintoki groaned.

"Gintoki! How about you try this? Maybe mixing the colours will help darken it." Katsura shook another purple spray can in his hand.

And thus, Gintoki's rainbow hair was born.

Everyone had taken a part in choosing multitude colours from Katsura's hoard of hair-colouring spray and took it upon themselves to spray as much as they can onto Gintoki's white canvas of hair.

"WHAT IS THIS?! It looks like a unicorn had spit rainbows all over my hair!" Gintoki grabbed the compact mirror that Tsukuyo had brought, his half-lidded eyes wide open at the horror his hair had become. Okita was snapping pictures with his cell phone.

"THIS IS MORE CONSPICUOUS THAN MY WHITE HAIR! WHO THE HELL PUT GLITTER ALL OVER MY HAIR?!" Gintoki wailed.

Everyone bowled over with laughter as they watched the dazzling mop of rainbow hair swish around, sprinkling loose glitter onto the floor. It literally screamed 'IM HERE IDIOTS' to the enemies, screw trying to be low-key.

Gintoki was shaking a Katsura who was crying of laughter by the collar of his haori,* demanding the colouring to be washed off that instant.

"HAHAHAHAHA! G-gintoki! The colouring can't be washed off for at least HAHAHAHA 2 days HAHAHA—" Katsura's hysterical laughter was cut short as Gintoki shoved him up into the ceiling, head-first.

Tsukuyo could not decide whether she liked Gin's new hair colour. In the end, she thought that it looked kind of good on him, but it didn't matter after all, she decided, Gintoki would always be Gintoki.

Katsura was recovered from the ceiling, little rocks and wood chips entangled in his long hair. Regardless, his men had all geared up with armor and polished weapons, and they clanged in response to Katsura's rallying cry.

"SET OFF!"

Hijikata's phone vibrated again with the hourly reports of Saito. He stiffened as he read the message.

**S: Need helpz.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haori:
> 
> A hip/ thigh length kimono jacket which adds formality.


	13. 1000 SPESHUL

GIN: Oya, oya. Isn't this the special reader? Welcome, dear angel, to Takahamagara. *holds out hand*

TOUSHI: Let's party~ for 1000 readers special! *offers a glass of mayonnaise*

Kagura butts in, stealing the spotlight as she twirls.

Kagura: WOOoOOooOO!

Glasses: STOP IT! WE'RE NOT HERE TO SEDUCE ANY READERS!

The male host club backdrop falls to the ground with a bang, revealing a studio setting.

The whole gang is present, dressed to the nines. Gintoki was in his host club white suit, as are the two other Yorozuya members. The Shinsengumi head figures were all in suits...uh. *cough cough* Excuse me, only Hijikata and Okita were in suits while the commander had "The Emperor's clothes" (which means its invisible). MADAO was clad in his fashionable cardboard suit which disintegrated mysteriously earlier on. The rest were in their usual,just a tad more accessories than they usually have on.

Hijikata: Oi, why are we here exactly? What's this 1000 readers thing?

Shinpachi: Uh, well the author decided to do so— WAIT WHY WAS I TAGGED AS 'Glasses' ABOVE?!

Sougo: Goddamn it. It's just a waste of time. I'm leaving.

Sa-chan: I ONLY CAME BECAUSE THE AUTHOR TOLD ME SHE HAD GIN-SAN'S NUDES!

Tsukuyo: I came because...because Sa-chan and Otae and Kyuubei came.

Author: Erherm, I shall translate Tsukki's words. She meant that she was keeping an eye on her potential love rivals. Which *COUGH* is obviously *COUGH COUGH* Gint—

Gintoki delivered a roundhouse kick to Author-san, effectively cutting off the rest of her sentence as she flew across the studio.

Gintoki: Oi, if you're not paying me any money, I'm leaving.

Author: W-wait Gin-san! I called all of you here to celebrate my fanfiction reaching 1000 readers! Okita-kun! Don't leave yet!

Otae: The total wasted time was 10 minutes and 36 seconds. Please transfer 10 million and 36 thousand to my bank account as soon as possible, or else...

Otae crouched down to pass Author-san a piece of paper with her bank account number written on it, while offering her Dark Matter.

Otae: You want to taste some of my cooking? I made some _**special**_ tamagoyaki for this _**special**_ occasion.

Author-san gulped nervously.

Author: Uh...Otae-san, I—I don't have 10 million wi—

Kyuubei: Fanfiction? What's that? Is it something related to Pu*p Fict**n?

Gintoki: No, no you don't want to know that. It's a terrible and dark world. Very dark indeed.

Shinpachi: It's a online thing where fans write their own stories with characters in anime or manga.

Tsukuyo: Oh, what genres are there?

Okita who hasn't left (surprisingly) overheard the question and answered it coolly.

Sougo: It's all stories where the characters **** each other and insert all sorts of ******** and ***********, then they pair them up to ***************.

Shinpachi jumped and covered Kagura's ears to protect her innocence, but the red-haired girl had better hearing than most humans.

Kagura: What's ********** uh-huh?

Shinpachi: AH! KAGURA-CHAN! YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO HEAR THAT! And not all fanfiction are like that!

Tsukuyo, who learned all sorts of things in Yoshiwara, explained it to Kagura.

Tsukuyo: Even Seita-kun knows all these things, Kagura-chan. *********** is when you and a man ****** *********** or two men or two women ******.

The usually tactless and crude Amanto blushed at the obscene information Tsukuyo was telling her.

Kondo: I love fanfiction! There's even stories on Otae-san ******* with me! The writers are very creative!

Otae: HMM? What did you just say, Gorilla-san?

Otae held up a handful of burnt tamagoyaki, giving him a "friendly" smile. Kondo bowed and apologized profusely.

Sa-chan: Is there—is there stories of me and Gin-san? Doing ****** and **********? KYAAAAAAAA IS THERE? IS THERE?

Gintoki snatched Hijikata's glass of mayonnaise and stuffed it down Sa-chan's throat with a black look on his face.

Author: Everyone, please listen to me. I wrote a fanfiction with the Gintama characters, and it's not smut—

Kagura: What's smut, uh-huh?

Sougo: You uneducated idiot, I told you it was ******.

Kagura: Uneducated?! You piece of shit only knows how to shoot your stupid bazooka and rob us citizens of our money-uh huh!

Author: SHHHHHH! My fanfiction reached 1000 readers milestone so I called you guys here to treat them with a special chapter!

Gintoki threateningly pointed his Lake Toya sword at Author-san, glaring down at her.

Gintoki: You didn't write about me with that V-shaped bastard doing ******* or ****** right?

Author: Rest assured Gin-san, the only ******** that's happening will be between you and Tsukki—

It was Tsukuyo's turn to stab Author-san with kunais.

Sa-chan: AUTHOR-SAN! HOW COULD YOU? WHAT ABOUT ME?!

Katsura arrived timely, Elizabeth behind him. The penguin-duck amalgamate was carrying a laptop with it, the Internet browser opened at .

Katsura: OHOHOHO! For this occasion, I, have brought a laptop with me to share Author-san's fanfiction with everyone!

Hasegawa: I bet Author-san didn't even include me...I'm not the main character after all...

Author: You appeared in the first chapter, Hasegawa-san!

Hasegawa teared up with joy as he hugged Author-san.

Hasegawa: O-only you appreciate me, Author-san~ *sniff*

Author: AAAAAA GET OFF ME! YOU'RE NAKED HASEGAWA-SAN!

Author-san repayed MADAO's hug with a few slaps.

Kagura was already in front of the laptop, clicking away. Everyone gathered around the laptop which had been transferred onto a tabletop, curious at what Kagura was searching for.

Kagura: Found it!

She proudly displayed the search results of 'Gintama' on the screen.

Kyuubei: Amazing, there's so many fanfiction about us!

Kagura: Let's see what the top fanfiction is about, uh-huh.

Kagura clicked on the first most fanfic, titled 'Love starts with some cuffs'. The description read 'Ginhiji lemon, read own discretion!1!'

Shinpachi was pushed down by others as they struggled to get a closer look at the words on the small screen. Author kicked Hasegawa further away. She didn't want his family jewels hanging over her.

Barely 10 seconds passed before Gintoki screamed and ran straight for the wall to bash his head against it. He was followed on later by Hijikata who snuffed his cigarette on the cameraman with a twitching nerve. The poor cameraman bawled and ran for the toilet, an ugly burn mark right in the middle of his forehead.

This was what was written on the screen.

**The white haired samurai caught the eye of the patrolling cop, those long muscled legs and well-built frame making Hijikata all hot and bothered thinking about how great they would look like without clothes.**

**_Damn it. I'm just gonna do it._ ** **Hijikata thought.**

**"Hey sex—hey yorozuya! Come to the headquarters with me! You are under arrest for...for being a suspect in the Mayonnaise Kidnaping plan!" Hijikata snapped cuffs around the unaware samurai who was enjyig his purfate.**

**"What are tou talking about you piece of shit?" Gin protested, "take these metal things off me now!"**

**Hijikata forced Gin into the patrol car, taking the chance to grope DAT ASS as he pushed him theough the door.**

**They arrived the headquarters later, and Hijikata brought Gin into his bedroom instead of the interrogation room. Hijikata chianed Gin to his tableleg, then used another pair of cuffs to chain Gin's other hand to the same tableleg.**

**"I have been wanting to do this since I first met you." Hijikata whispered sensuLly into gin's ear. The sexy white haired man blushed under the intimate words hijikata was uttering.**

**"Wha-what are u trying to do—" Gin's words were cut off as Hijikata pressed his lips against his, savouring the taste of him. Hijikata's hand made his way up to Gin's shirt zipper, slowly oulling the zip down. Cold air hit Gin's chest and he moaned—**

Shinpachi: ENOUGH! KAGURA-CHAN! THE REST IS OFF-LIMITS!

Shinpachi forced his way through and covered Kagura's eyes, preventing her from reading further. The females were all blushing madly as they continued reading. Katsura was bleeding from his nose as he turned to the Vice-Commander.

Katsura: Hijikata-dono, I can't believe you did this to Gintoki.

Hijikata: I DID NOT! THAT IS NOT REAL! ITS A STORY! A FAKE ONE!

Kagura tried removing Shinpachi's hands from her eyes, but he was very determined not to let Kagura ruin more of her innocence.

Sougo: I'll read it out. **Gintoki wrapped his mouth around Hijikata's hard member, running his tongue over the head as some pre—**

Kyuubei fainted, burning red from head to toe, a stream of blood exiting her nose. Otae caught Kyuubei in her arms and fussed over her as Shinpachi started singing Otsuu-chan's songs (very horribly) in order to drown out Okita's voice. Kagura yelled at Shinpachi to shut his mouth and smashed him into the floor

All that was left of Gintoki was a bloody mess and Hijikata was trying to erase his memory by meditating and praying to the Mayonnaise God.

Author-san saved the day and clicked 'Return' to the search page. Kagura was slightly in shock as she imagined her earth dad and Hijikata *******, and she almost threw up her breakfast at the thought.

Tsukuyo: L-let's see if...uh the other fanfictions are more appropriate...

Author-san grinned evilly to herself and clicked on a second fanfic, which she noted that there was an Okikagu pairing.

**Okita Sougo was tired after a long day at work, and he arrived home to a not so warm welcome from his wife.**

**Who is his wife you ask?**

**Kagura of course.**

**"I'm home, honey." Okita hugged his wife from behind, "How are you feeling? Is the baby craving for anything?"**

Gintoki: WHAT DID YOU DO TO KAGURA YOU SEX MONSTER!

Gintoki revived from his lifeless state, ready to pummel the man who defiled his daughter. He spit at Okita who was trying to carve his eyes out with his katana.

Sougo: _Nee-chan..._ I'm coming to join you...

Kagura was convulsing violently on the floor, her blue eyes rolled back into her head.

The fanfiction was an instant K.O for the pair. Author-san felt a little guilty as she watched Kondo trying to wrestle the katana away from Okita, and Shinpachi doing his best to restrain Gintoki from stabbing Okita in the chest.

Author: Guys. Guys, chill! It's not real! It's all fiction! A story!

Kagura: Th-the thought of me and that sadistic bastard... just makes me want to—

Calming music with chirping birds covered the sound of Kagura hurling the contents of her stomach out.

Sa-chan took the advantage and searched up on "Gin x sacchan" fics.

Sa-chan: This! This is so aah~Gin-san!

Sa-chan's glasses cracked from the intensity of her nose bleed, the blood spraying all over the illuminated screen.

Hasegawa was upset at the lack of attention in the midst of all this chaos, and pushed the squealing and half-conscious female ninja away from the blood-covered screen. He smeared the blood all over the screen in his attempt to wipe it away, and decided to get some attention for himself.

Hasegawa: **Gintoki dragged Hasegawa to the toilet, mistaking the older man for a woman in his drunken stupor. He peeled the clothes off Hasegawa, who was also not in his right mind from all the alcohol, his face flushed red.**

**"Mmm, bend ovaar for meh, yoou s-sluuut.." Gintoki moaned as he dragged his hands down the body of MADAO, catching onto the waistband of the dark red-brown pants.**

Gintoki switched his target from Okita to Hasegawa immediately, flinging him away from the bloodied screen. He needed to do some damage control right now before things get even worse.

Gintoki: IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK! I DIDN'T! I TOTALLY DIDN'T! I AM STRAIGHT! AS STRAIGHT AS OOGUSHI-KUN'S HAIR! I DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY DID NOT BEND HASEGAWA-SAN OVER!

Tsukuyo gasped at Gintoki, her mouth opening and closing like a fish, her kiseru pipe clattering onto the floor. Then she turned to Otae and Kyuubei, the word 'Oh shit we fucked up' written big and clear on her face. Otae returned the same look, but Kyuubei was out cold again after hearing what Hasegawa read out.

Otae: Gin-san, look, we...we...uh...

Gintoki: NO! NOTHING HAPPENED! I SWEAR TO YOUR MOTHER TO MY FATHER TO STANDS TO OBAMA TO CINDERELLA'S FAIRY GODMOTHER I! DID! NOT! DO! ANYTHING! NOTHING!

Tsukuyo: Gintoki, you see, we were just trying to make you quit drinking...we are so sorry...

Gintoki: WHY WON'T YOU BELIEVE ME?! MOTHER OF GOD WE ARE INNOCENT! GIN-CHAN NEVER DID ANYTHING TO HASEGAWA'S KETSU-NO-ANA—ah I would like to do it with Ketsuno Ana though—THAT'S NOT THE POINT! I'M CLEAN!

Hasegawa: **The Shinigami Tayuu's boobs were groped tightly by the large warm hands of Gin-chan, and Gin-chan rubbed them together, creating delicious friction, that Tsukuyo couldn't help but moan, and then Gin—**

Gintoki: SHUT UP! STAY DEAD!

Gintoki sucker-punched the older man in the face, crushing his sunglasses in the process. Hasegawa slumped onto the floor as his life-giving form (sunglasses) was destroyed.

Tsukuyo: WHAT THE HELL?!

Tsukuyo was a flaming tomato as she threw kunais at Gintoki, her metal kunais even burning red. Gintoki dodged them, but one still stabbed him in the tush, combusting into hot flames and roasting his offending ass. Gintoki let out a inhuman piercing cry.

Author: ITS NOT REAL! GUYS! Oh my god. Wake me up! Wake me up inside!

Sa-chan: YOU BITCH! I KNEW IT! Only Gin-chan is allowed to do it with me! I do not approve of that fanfic! There must be more Sa-chan and Gin-san's fanfics!

The bespectacled woman cleaned the screen fervently with her scarf and utilised her loudest vocal chords as she read off the screen.

Sa-chan: **Gintoki speared Ayame with his huge, long d—**

Shinpachi: THERE ARE MINORS HERE! PLEASE KEEP THIS ALL PG!

The sadist was in action, kicking away the kunoichi without shame as he took control of the laptop.

Sougo: **Hijikata was in love with Katsura. He may be a policeman, and Katsura may be a terrorist, and they are worlds apart, but love knows no bounds. He wanted to slip his hand through the long silky locks of Katsura's and kiss those—**

Hijikata popped his eyes open, abandoning his meditation, and unsheathed his katana.

Hijikata: SOUGO! COMMIT 1000 SEPPUKUS RIGHT NOW! STAND STILL AND LET ME BUTCHER YOU!

Katsura: Oh look! There's one on Takasugi and Yakulko (Yakult). **The hourshaped plastic bottle filled with the heavenly liquid turns Takasugi on. He stroked the grooves of the Yakulko lovingly, but had to put it back onto the shelf of the supermarket. Yakulko was** ** _takasugi_** **(too expensive).** [a/n: HAH THAT PUN THO]

Takasugi: Yakulko does not turn me on. It just happens to be a nutritious drink that I like.

Shinpachi: EEEEEH! TAKASUGI-SAN! WHY ARE YOU HERE?!

Takasugi: I will be back to destroy this world.

He gave a deep chuckle before exiting the studio.

Katsura: TAKASUGI! COME BACK! LET'S SETTLE THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL!

Katsura chased after him, leaving the laptop back in the hands of everyone who was going crazy over the exploration of the fanfiction world.

Kondo: **Kondo thought of Otae opening up her legs as he slid his length along the fleshy konjac** —Mmmmmmm

Otae hurled peeled bananas at Kondo, who snatched the bananas from midair, chewing diligently on them like a real gorilla.

Otae: Just die already, gorilla gorilla gorilla. :D

Kondo: Dwan't Ushe szhe zscienfric namue! (Don't use the scientific name)

The doors of the studio were flung open as more characters entered the studio.

Yamazaki: Kyokucho! Fukucho! Taicho! I brought some anpan to cele—woah what happened?

Tama: Author-san, I have brought the alcohol as requested.

Author: TAMA-CHAN! ZAKI! ITS ABSOLUTE CHAOS! Herpes me—wait no—help me! We were supposed to be celebrating my fanfiction but it somehow turned into this!

Author-san gestured at Kondo frothing at the mouth after being fed poisoned bananas by the grinning Otae.

Yamazaki: KYOKUCHO! ARE YOU OKAY?!

Yamazaki rushed to his beloved Commander's side, trying to resuscitate the man who was getting more purple by the second.

Author: Tama-chan—SHIT! NO! TAMA-CHAN!

Tama: **Fifty Shades of Gin. The perfect story for you perverted BDSM fuckers, Gin x Tama.**

Tama stared silently at the screen, her face devoid of any expression.

The laptop screen flickered and the 'blue screen of death' replaced the long list of fanfiction.

Tama: Oh no, Laptop-chan needs to take a bathroom break.

Shinpachi: THAT'S NOT IT RIGHT?! LAPTOP-CHAN DID NOT NEED A BATHROOM BREAK!

Author: TAMA-CHAN WHAT DID YOU DO?!

Tama gave a small, mysterious smile.

The equally mysterious Elizabeth pulled out another laptop from within his white suit. And wrote on his board: _Here's a spare!_

Everyone screamed and ran for it, some wanting revenge, some wanting to stop the others from reading more of the cancerous fanfictions.

Gintoki: I'M GOING TO DESTROY THIS PIECE OF SHIT!

Hijikata: GET OUT OF MY WAY SOUGO! I WILL DEMOTE YOU IF YOU DO NOT LET GO OF ME RIGHT THIS SECOND!

Sougo: The day I let you go is the day I kill you, Hijikata-san.

Author: GIN-SAN! HOLD ON TO YOUR TITS—err—BALLS! I haven't shared my fanfiction with you guys yet!

Tsukuyo: I shall be the one to put holes in that machine—

Sa-chan: NOOO! I HAVEN'T READ MY FILL OF ALL THE GIN x SACCHAN FICS! SCRAM BITCHES! THIS LAPTOP IS MINE!

Sa-chan jumped onto Tsukuyo's back like the monkey she is ( **Saru** tobi Ayame), pulling at Tsukuyo's hair.

Kagura: ITS MINE TO DESTROY! GIN-CHAN LET ME DO IT-UH HUH!

Hasegawa: Hello? Author-san, I only appeared for a total of 3 paragraphs!

Kondo: CHINA-GIRL! I HAVEN'T COME—

Otae: Arara, Kondo-san, do you want your little friend down there to be ripped off? Hmm? DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW IT FEELS? IT FEELS LIKE THIS!

Kondo: AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Kyuubei: I'm right behind you, Tae-chan! (A/n: a really bad reference to the episode with Saint Seiya)

Kyuubei prepares to slice off Kondo's little friend, planning to save it for her own use-COUGH- the surgery to connect an organ-COUGH- you know what I mean.

Shinpachi: KYUUBEI-SAN! I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING! DON'T DO IT! THAT MAN'S PENIS IS DIRTIER THAN YOU CAN EVER IMAGINE! YOU CAN DIE FROM THE GERMS AND BACTERIA INFESTED ON IT!

Yamazaki stood at another corner, watching the lively gang grapple each other. Poor Yamazaki was invisible once again. Tama was conversing mechanically with the 'dead' laptop trying to comfort it, which had been unceremoniously given a literal blood bath by Sa-chan.

Elizabeth, finally getting some screen time as he reached the new laptop first.

Elizabeth: (writing) _I have found the author's story! The description says there's Gintsu and Okikagu!_

The crowd goes silent.

Author: Shit.

Four pairs of eyes glinted menancingly at Author-san, their faces twisted into malicious smiles.

Gintoki: So you're one of those authors who write this kind of shit huh.

Author: No, no I don't write smut! My fanfiction is clean...for now! ！(◎_◎;)

Tsukuyo: For now?

Okita: And you. Yes, you, reading this right now. You're the ones who read that kind of shit, huh? You perverted little fucks are asking for punishment.

Kagura: Butter up your ass and prepare, we're coming for you right now. ◉‿◉

The studio lights flickered rapidly as evil auras enveloped the area.

Last seen of Author-san was Tsukuyo twisting her neck, then discarding the dead body onto the studio floor.

They are stalking to your screen right now, each heavy step laced with killing intent ringing out into the unfurnished studio.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

The studio plunges into blackness.

Don't. Turn. Around.


	14. Breakout!

Tomorrow was the day. The Matsudaira, Aikake and Hitotsubashi called for a covert meeting in the Aikake estate. Aikake dragged himself away from the screen displaying Rae's image and went to welcome the head of the Hitotsubashi and Matsudaira.

Hitotsubashi Nodenode, a man with thinning hair speckled with white, and pointed eyes which ran in the family. He held himself with the air of a noble, and surveyed his surroundings with haughtiness. He scoffed at the size of Aikake's estate, and scuffed his shoe against the stone path to dislodge the soil from the yard. The soil was not worthy enough to have a place on his shoes.

Matsudaira Katakuriko was being escorted by Aikake and Hitotsubashi's men, and he kept his hands folded and fixed firmly to his back, so they wouldn't reach for the two pistols currently sitting under his overcoat to go on a killing spree.

"Welcome to my humble abode, Nodenode-sama, Matsudaira-sama." Aikake's velvety voice alerted the men to his presence.

"Aikake." Hitotsubashi Nodenode stood erect, the impatience in his tone hinting Aikake Kagai to invite them quickly into the meeting hall.

Aikake gave an obligatory smile, leading them to their seats.

"As you have already known, at the morning court tommorow, the Matsudaira will implore-" Matsudaira Katakuriko spat spitefully at the mention of his name. Aikake kept his business smile on, and waited patiently for Matsudaira to settle down before continuing.

"The Matsudaira will implore the Shogun for my promotion to _roju._ If the Shogun objects, Hitotsubashi will step up to convince him to change his mind. Most importantly, its Tokugawa Sadasada that we have to be convince."

"Just get to the point, boy." Nodenode furrowed his eyebrows.

" ** _If_**. If, Sadasada does not allow me to take the seat of a _roju_ , we will assasinate the Shogun."

Matsudaira's right hand twitched towards his pistol. Hitotsubashi was unruffled at Aikake's decision. "Don't be so impatient, boy. That old Sadasada knows that he cannot go against the whole court, even if he is the Shogunate Advisor."

"The instance I become a _roju_ , Sadasada will plot to drag me down again. I will organize the army that I gain with the seat of the _roju_ and we begin the revolution immediately. It's a race against time."

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Saito Shimaru was not a ninja. He was a samurai. He was not cut out for these type of 'sneaking round your house' jobs. Just because he tended to blend into the background does not qualify him as one. The reason why he grew that pompous orange hair of his was to attract attention of people, and actually _**notice**_ him, so he would not feel that lonely all the time.

Now he regretted growing out his hair. And not getting some ninja training.

It rasped against the low ceiling as he crawled along the narrow space, trying to keep his movements quiet as to not notify his enemies below him. His annoying hair sometimes snagged on a protruding nail or a corner of a wood panel and he had to reach back constantly to unravel the strand of hair. Saito's elbow bumped into the side of the tunnel, sending numbing shocks up his arm.

He had been watching Rae, or Aikake more specifically, and followed Aikake over to the meeting once he discovered the other family heads entering the estate. He did not want to leave Rae alone, even though she was not aware of his existence, and had to steel his resolve to leave her. It was upsetting to hear her dismal cries fade in the distance.

Saito finally found a perfect place to eavesdrop, and he pressed his ear against the floor, which was the ceiling of the room the three Heads were in. A tiny hole provided him a glimpse into the meeting hall.

"—assassinate the Shogun." Aikake had said, his light tone contrasting the grave looks on the Matsudaira and Hitotsubashi heads.

Saito strained to hear the snippets of conversation.

"Of course, Matsudaira-sama, it might be the best to order your Shinsengumi to lay low." Matsudaira's pupils narrowed almost imperceptibly. _Shit. He found out._

Aikake had received a report from one of his men that Matsudaira's call abnormally consisted of the entrsuting of accounts to Hijikata Toushirou, and a large quantity of numbers. It did not take long for Aikake to figure out the message was coded under the pretense of bank account numbers and passwords.

"The phone call was supposed to be a warning for the Shinsengumi to keep their heads out of this, to just scare them with their Commander in our hands, when did it become a call for instructions? Hmm?" Aikake's eyes curved into half-moons and he gave a tight lipped smile to Matsudaira.

Hitotsubashi glanced sideways at Matsudaira whom, to his credit, kept a cool facade. "Are you accusing me of using the Shinsengumi to act in my place? What they do behind my back is none of my concern. I was just doing my job of handing over authority to the next person in charge when their Commander and General are both invalid for the moment." Matsudaira took another long drag of his cigarette.

"I do not know what they have done now to catch your attention, but they sure are good at their jobs." Matsudaira taunted, a corner of his lips lifting slightly in a mocking smile.

Aikake simmered quietly under his exterior. Matsudaira was going to be buried six feet under when he eventually becomes the Shogun. Aikake had not decoded the string of numbers from the recorded phone log, and the Shinsengumi had not made any obvious moves, but he had no doubt that it will become clear soon enough.

Lying above them, was Saito, who had fallen asleep halfway through the conversation. 'Z' bubbles of sleep followed the pull of gravity, floating down to the room which had a sudden lapse of silence.

The 'Z' bubble popped.

Aikake eyes flashed dangerously as he flicked a dagger upwards, running through the ceiling and accurately pinning Saito's bushy hair to the wood. Saito was rudely awoken by the dagger which came from the blue, embedding itself firmly into this hair.

"Intruder! Find the intruder! He's hidden in the ceiling!"

Saito fumbled as he tried dislodge his hair from the steel dagger unsuccessfully. _Damn it!_ He heaved at it and barely avoided being perforated by the sudden barrage of knives jutting out, thrown by the guards below.

He uttered an apology inwardly to his hair, and with one of his long knives, slashed off the part which was immobilized by the dagger. His hair looked the Apple's logo, an orange with a bite taken out of it. It would be such a pain to grow it back out.

Saito did his best to crawl to safety, his limbs cramping up from the long periods of cooping up in tiny spaces. _Thiz iz why I zhould have taken the ninja training courze._ He lamented once again and gave up, slashing through the wood of the building to get to the upper floor. He prayed wholeheartedly that he wouldn't hit a support beam and bring the whole floor crashing down with him.

 _The womanz! I have to get to herz!_ He emerged from the floor of the room directly a level above the meeting hall, wood pieces and shavings clinging to his fuzzy hair. A servant screamed and ran for the guards. Saito cut down the servant before he could alert anyone else to his location. He took off in the direction of the room where Rae was kept in.

"There he is! Get him! Capture him alive!"

His uniform flapped in the wind of his speed as he dashed through the property. Rae's room was on the fourth level, he had no time to go for the stairs. Stopping under the room he believed Rae was in, Saito crouched and gathered his power to his legs, springing upwards and cutting through the ceiling as if it was made of tofu.

Saito pulled himself up and stopped short. _Wrong roomz._

A woman was shrieked hysterically as she tried to cover herself with the translucent shower curtain. Saito bowed deeply apologizing for his mistake, and wiped the small stream of blood flowing from his nose.

He hopped back down to the room below, and tried the one beside it. This time, he found it.

He found paradise.

Blood freely spurted out from his nostrils as he gazed upon the scene of curvaceous women changing; generous cleavages, long, slim legs and round mounds of fat (boobs and booty of course) blinding him.

"KYAAAAAA! PERVERT!" Silk cloth and getas*(1) struck him in the face and jogged him from his reverie. Saito dropped into a dogeza*(2), then made his exit with women yelling at him to get lost.

"OVER THERE!" The high-pitched screams of women was replaced by the deep voices of the guards.

 _Shit! Where is the room?_ Saito fretted silently, twisting left and right. He decided to try his luck again by another room down the row. He wouldn't mind if he came upon similiar situations again.

(Un)fortunately, Saito finally chose the correct room Rae was in. He popped out from the floor to see Rae sleeping soundly. Streaks of tear marks ran down her cheeks and Saito leaned over to wake her up.

"NO! DON'T! DON'T TAKE YURA! MAIKO! PLEASE!" Emerald orbs flew open abruptly, undisguised fear coursing through them. She took a breath as her heart rattled in her ribcage. The nightmare had been unnervingly realistic. _No._ Rae squeezed her eyes shut. _It was real. It was real. Yura is dead. Maiko was taken._

Her vision swam into focus, only to see a pair of red eyes staring back at her. And a ridiculous bush of orange wool? Her sluggish mind worked on that detail until she realized it was hair. A bright orange afro where a quarter of it was cleanly cut off. The masked young man's hand was frozen midway to her shoulder, presumably about to wake her.

The weird man withdrew his hand and bowed in greeting, then severed the ropes binding Rae to the four corners of the bed. Before she could process the meaning behind this mysterious saviour's action, Saito squatted down, offering his back to her.

Rae was utterly baffled at the situation. Saito glanced back and gave a little nod as if to say 'Get on'. Rae shook her head weakly. "Who are you?

Saito suddenly broke into a sweat as his stomach twisted at the thought of answering Rae's question. _Oh noz. I need to hold it inz._ He mutely gestured for Rae to hurry up and climb onto his back. Saito was uncomfortable at the notion of letting a stranger get on his back. A samurai never showed his back, let alone allow anyone to climb on it. It meant complete utter trust in the other person to show one's vulnerable back.

Still, he had no choice. It would be much faster for Saito to piggyback her and run, plus it was easier for him to fight off oncoming enemies with his arms free.

"Check the slave's room and the east hall! Daisuke! Juro! Follow me!" Shouts and stampeding footsteps made their way closer to Rae's room. Rae was still hesitant and was planning to just run to find Maiko alone. She took a small step off to the door and found herself caught around the waist by the orange-haired man. Rae had not opened her mouth to protest yet before Saito swung her onto his back and gripped under her thighs.

Rae futilely hit his back in attempt to make the man let go of her, but her feeble punches made no impact. She was most probably just providing massage service for the afro guy. All the fight left her as she sagged into his back, wrapping her arms around his neck loosely.

She was tired. So tired.

Saito checked that Rae wouldn't slip easily before breaking into a run, darting around a corner to find the stairs when the woman on his back suddenly grabbed his throat, cutting off his air supply. Saito almost lost his balance from shock and barely managed to regain his footing on the steep stairs.

"My friend, find my friend! I am not leaving without her!" Rae tightened her hold on the Saito's throat. "I'll kill you if you don't bring us to the dungeons right now." She did not know where Maiko was taken to, but if she could guess, Aikake would have thrown her in the dungeons.

Saito nodded (as much as he could with Rae strangling him), and greedily gulped down oxygen as Rae's hands slackened. He turned to go further down the stairs. Dungeons were always built underground, with no light and no free flow of air.

Saito sped up as he heard the guards pressing in closer. Rae smoothed out a crease on Saito's shoulder. He tensed up, thinking the woman was about to attack him again, but Rae just asked "Is this the Shinsengumi's uniform? Are you from the Shinsengumi?"

Saito relaxed a tiny bit, and nodded in reply. _Iz my uniform too overly modified?_ He mused had changed his style of the Shinsengumi uniform as he wanted to look more cool, but if it was preventing him from being recognized as a Shinsengumi Captain, it would be troublesome.

"There! He's got the slave! After him!" Guards appeared at their rear.

"Fuck."Saito's eyes widened at Rae's comment. _Where the heck did she learn it fromz?_ Delicate hands covered his ears after Rae whispered an apology. Saito waited for the woman to rip his ears off but what came out of her mouth next made him glad that Rae's hands provided a barrier.

Rae filled her lungs with air, and belted it out in an insanely high note, ringing throughout the estate. Men dropped like flies onto the floor, clutching at their ears as the note assaulted their eardrums. Just for the fun of it, Rae climbed up the octave and thoroughly enjoyed the sound of glass planes trembling in their frames. The nearest pane next to her cracked under the 'pressure'.

Rae eventually ran out of air and stopped.

Everyone was sprawled on the floor, their heads ringing with the echo of the piercing note, leaving only Saito with Rae standing. If Rae had gone on longer, their eardrums would burst and bleed. Rae felt accomplished at her feat and removed her hands from Saito's ears.

Even with Rae's hands as a barrier, at close proximity to the acute source of sound, Saito's ears still picked up a little of it and he already had a pounding headache. He couldn't imagine the agony of the guards who were caught unaware by her great show of vocals.

"Are you okay?" Rae asked Saito, her voice mellowed down into a tone which was soothing to his headache. Saito only noticed that she had a musical lilt to her voice when he listened closely. He nodded again, albeit a little traumatised by the event. He gave Rae a questioning look.

"How did I do that, you ask? Mm. I guess that this is not really a secret, but you will be the second person I have ever told." Rae smiled a little to herself before it dimmed and she was back to hiding behind her cold mask. "I'm half Amanto. Half Siren, to be precise."

Saito's eyebrows met in a frown as he contemplated the new information. Siren. The legendary sea-nymphs whom possessed vocals that could sing a sailor to his death? Weren't they just myths? Half-Amantos were terribly rare too. Not many humans would be attracted to another totally different species, and vice versa.

Rae sighed exasperatedly, "If talking fishes exist, why can't Sirens exist, you idiot?" Saito marveled at Rae's ability to be able to read his mind. _Was that a Siren thing tooz_?

"Don't worry, I'm a half-blood so my ability is not as potent as a full blooded. I don't know how to control my ability well. It sometimes works and sometimes it doesn't. I won't be able to do the same thing again for the next few hours." Rae warned, "You'll have to evade the guards as much as possible. The ones over there," Rae waved carelessly at the grunting, jumbled piles of men, "won't be able to operate functionally until tomorrow."

She tapped his chin lightly with a finger, then pointed down towards the stair leading into the underground. Saito took three steps with each stretch of his long legs, and in no time, reached the entrance of the dungeon. Two sentinels on the lookout drew their weapons when they saw Rae and Saito approaching at full speed.

Saito got rid of them in an instant with one swipe of his long knives, and pushed open the heavily fortified metal door with Rae's help. The door squeaked open to reveal a ill-lighted corridor with cells lining each side. A repugnant smell of unwashed, rotting bodies wafted up, clogging their noses it.

Saito rushed down the gloomy corridor, peering into each cell for only a few seconds. Most of the cells were filled with at least one person. He wondered what kind of crimes landed them in Aikake's dungeon. "They didn't commit horrible crimes. They were all servants or slaves that had crossed Aikake. He threw them in here as punishment, never to surface again." Rae answered as if she read Saito's mind again.

Saito halted in his footsteps to peek over his shoulders at Rae in astonishment. "I don't read minds, nor faces, Mr Orange-afro." Rae replied, her hand moving upwards to brush the hair out of Saito's ruby red eyes. Green irises clashed with red ones as Rae stared deeply into his eyes. It felt as if Rae was looking deep into his soul, no details escaping from her gaze.

"I read eyes. You have expressive ones, my mysterious saviour."

Saito would be lying if he said that he didn't feel his heart skip a beat. His stomach flipped, not from worry or pain, but from the touch of this woman whose name he had not even learned yet. Blood rushed to his ears, dyeing them red and hot. He felt that he had finally found someone who understood him, without any use for words.

Rae ignored Saito's blatantly red ears, and told him to get a move on before the guards came down to check. There was only one exit in the dungeon, which was the entrance. If they did not hurry, the dungeon was going to be a death trap for them.

"Maiko! Where are you! Answer me!" Rae called out into the dingy cells, hoping that Aikake had really kept her in here.

"Rae! Run! Quickly!" Maiko's feeble voice reverberated through the iron bars in a cell to the right of them. Saito sprinted over to see Rae's friend, crouching on the floor, her hands gripping the bars tightly. Rae slipped down from Saito's back, and covered Maiko's hands over with her own.

"No, Maiko, you're coming with us. I'll get you out now—"

"RUN! BRING RAE AWAY NOW! ITS A TRAP!" Maiko looked over to Saito, whose ears had picked up sounds of sudden movement around them. "QUICK!" Maiko pleaded desperately.

"No Maiko! You're coming with us! We'll go together!" Rae struggled against Saito as he pulled her back towards him. The cell doors in the dungeon burst open, a surge of armed guards pouring out of each cell, surrounding Saito and Rae in front of Maiko's cell.

Maiko sobbed, reaching her arm out to grab Rae's outstretched hand. "I told you to run..." She broke down further, wailing for the guards to have mercy and leave Rae alone. A colourful string of expletives erupted in Saito's mind as he cursed at his carelessness for not checking the cells more closely.

Saito kept Rae behind his back and unsheathed his long knives. The cold metal glinted ominously as light threw a path of rays onto the polished, reflective surface. It highlighted the sharp edge, and Saito braced for impact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glossary
> 
> Geta: form of traditional Chinese-Japanese that resemble clogs and flip-flops
> 
> Dogeza: an element of Japanese manners by kneeling directly on the ground and bowing to prostrate oneself as touching one's head to the floor. In Saito's case, he's using it to express his deepest apologies to the women


	15. Half

A jet of ember-red blood spurted into the air as Saito ran his knife across the chest of a guard, swiveling around in a smooth motion to stop the incoming blade behind him with his other knife. The blood splattered onto the ground and over to Rae who was trying to wrestle open the locked gate of the cell. Rae did not give a damn to the green kimono which was already marred with splotches of dried copper blood, and yanked a **katana** away from a fallen guard, hacking away on the lock.

Saito knew they would not be able to make it past a step beyond Maiko's cell. He was tiring under the onslaught of so many enemies, and he couldn't fight forever. The dungeon must have been sealed off by incoming guards. There was no way out. Hopeless situation or not, Saito was not going down without a fight. If he was to be captured, he would bring down as many enemies as he could with him.

The katana Rae was using snapped in half after a few swings. She let out a blood-curdling scream of frustration, evoking the dormant Siren powers at the worst possible time. Saito gripped his head in pain and his long knifes clanged to the floor. Maiko had curled up against the sound

The guards were unaffected and took the chance, driving their blades into Saito, one through his torso, two more through his arm and leg. Saito coughed out the red liquid of life, his black mask darkening further with the spread of blood. Pain shot through him as the guards pulled their katanas back out. He glared furiously at the guards, nonplussed at their sudden immunity to Siren song. Saito cleared his throat welling up with blood, and quickly sent a message to Hijikata with his cell phone discreetly behind his back before his consciousness escaped him.

Rae grasped her throat, startled at her own outburst. She had not anticipated that her powers would activate when she had just used it not long ago. The guards restrained the gravely injured Saito, and grabbed Rae roughly. She slapped them away in vain, kicking another in the place where the sun doesn't shine.

"Let Rae go! LET HER GO!" Maiko slammed the iron bars, but the guards did not even turn their heads over to her.

"They can't hear a thing, darling."

"GET LOST YOU PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT!" Rae hurled herself at the figure strolling down the aisle. The guards locked her firmly against them, preventing her from scratching the skin off Aikake's smug face.

"They have ear-plugs. The wax kind. 100% foolproof against all types of sirens." Aikake's smirk deepened as he rolled two pieces of wax ear plugs in between his fingers.

"You motherfucker. Release Maiko and the Shinsengumi member." Her tone took a dive into a venomous one as she glared daggers at Aikake. How she wanted to tear into his flesh and see him screech in agony, to cut him open bit by bit, and feel his warm blood running down her hand as she stabbed him repeatedly. Rae's pupils constricted with the thought, a hunger she had never felt before pillaging her stomach. Her teeth lightly poked against her lips, tapering into razor-sharp points without her noticing.

Human flesh and warm blood suddenly smelt _**delicious**_ to her.

She snapped her head towards one of the guards restraining her, and opened her mouth, salient teeth sending the guard scrambling back in fear. She snarled at the cowering guard before shifting her attention back to Aikake who was watching in fascination.

Tendrils of gold crept its way into her moss green irises, suffusing from her shrunken, catlike pupils. Maiko couldn't recognize her friend in those strange eyes, trembling at those eyes which yearned for human meat, brimming with hunger. _A beast's eyes._ Her friend was clothed in the skin of a beast.

The planes of Rae's face sharpened and she looked positively alluring. Her hair flowed like silky waves of obsidian ink, gleaming softly in the low light. Her creamy skin took on a supple glow, seemingly so delicate and flimsy that all it needed to tear apart was a light breath of air. The scars began to fade, but the deep rope wounds on her wrists and ankles only managed to knit close, the skin still red and raw. All eyes were trained on her, transfixed by her beauty.

Another guard gathered up the courage to take over the place of the intimidated one before Rae could take a bite out of the brave guard who stayed.

 _Meat. Meat. Meat. Hungry. Human. Eat. Meat._ Rae salivated at the scent of all the pulsing, healthy bodies encircling her. But the the one who smelt the tastiest was the one with the grey eyes, looking at her and grinning.

She wrenched one of her arms out of the hold of a guard, reaching over to Aikake.

Seeing their master in danger of being eaten, dozens slammed their bodies into Rae, pinning her to the ground, then swiftly tied her up. Rae growled at them, trying to chomp on one of the many human arms.

"Don't gag her. I want to see more." Aikake smiled, eyes lighting up with the delight of finding a whole new, exotic side to Rae. The cloth would only obstruct the full view of this beauty.

Saito thought he was hallucinating as he gazed upon Rae who was thrashing against the ropes, tied so tightly he was sure it was cutting her blood circulation off. He wanted to call out to her, to bring her back from whatever realm that her soul had descended to. That **_creature_** was not the woman who made his heart flutter.

"RAE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! Rae! It's Maiko!" Saito fought against another wave of dizziness. He was losing too much blood. At least her friend would bring Rae back if he couldn't do it.

"RAE! Listen to me! Look here, Rae. Look closely. I am Maiko, your friend." Maiko squeezed her head into the tight space between the iron bars, calling out worriedly. Rae swiveled her head towards the source of the sound. Maiko supressed a shiver as she met animalistic golden, pulsating eyes which only had a rim of green left.

Aikake did not stop Maiko's attempt to call out to Rae. He was curious to see what would happen.

Rae licked her lips and eyed the white meat piled upon Maiko's bones. _Hungry_ _ **.**_ "Rae! Do you remember Yura? Remember me? Remember the times when we sneaked onto the roof to watch the sunrise?"

Rae jolted at the mention of Yura's name. Her head began to pound, not with hunger, but with memories. Images flashed through her mind, her heart aching as she recognized each face of her friends, who she went through thick and thin together in this estate. _Yura. Maiko. Ayaka. Hiromi._

Rae wailed and struck her skull against the stone floor as the Siren in her wrestled for control over her body. "Rae!" Maiko's voice provided her strength she needed to smother the Siren into its cage, locking it away in the darkest, most absymal corner of her mind. The Siren screeched from its cage, reminding Rae that she would forever be within her, waiting for the perfect opportunity to rise again.

The aurous colour ebbed away from Rae's green eyes. Rae panted from the exertion of her own internal battle, sweat beading on her forehead. "Maiko."

"Amazing, cupcake. **_Amazing_** **.** " Aikake clapped, his smirk never leaving his face. "You never disappoint me, Rae. You were worth all the money I spent on you."

Rae grounded her teeth in hatred, but took precautions not to let her mind stray over to how great Aikake's blood would look spilled upon the polished wooden floor. This was the first time Rae had ever lost control over her Siren self.

Aikake ordered Saito to be dragged to the interrogation room, which was just a nice term for 'torture room'. The guards had a easy time moving the sleeping—yes, SLEEPING— Saito to the exit of the dungeon. Rae watched incredulously as one of the floating 'Z' bubbles popped by her foot when Saito passed by her. _WAKE UP YOU IDIOT! How does he sleep with those injuries?! This is the enemy's territory!_

Aikake rose an eyebrow at Saito's sleeping form and proceeded to command the rest of the guards to bring Rae back to his room this time. Rae was gagged and thrown over the shoulder of a guard, Maiko helplessly watching her friend brought back up to the estate once again.

Aikake led the group, burning with irritation. Even that little show of Rae's had not quelled his anger at the escapade of Shinsengumi Afro and his cupcake. Plus that damage to his house by that Afro would cost him quite a sum to repair, not that he did not have the money to do it, but it was troublesome.

First of all, he needed to teach his dear cupcake a lesson.

Aikake sneered, grey eyes glinting. It's going to be fun.

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"Oi. Yorozuya."

Gintoki turned back to face a grim Hijikata.

"What."

"I think, that Shimaru was discovered by Aikake. Most probably captured as well."

"Oh. Really. Okay. I told you so." Gintoki looked bored.

"WHAT KIND OF REACTION IS THAT?!" Hijikata propped the bazooka up on his shoulder and fired. Gintoki was blasted away with a Wilhelm scream while Joui Rebels were flying in all directions in the background, caught up in the explosion.

"Hijikata-san, don't worry, Gin-san will take care of it. He may not look like he cares, but he will still help you find Saito-san." Shinpachi gave a small smile to the infuriated Vice-Commander.

"I know." Hijikata huffed. Everyone knew that under that bored, usually expressionless face of his was a heart made of tofu. And maybe a little bit of a jerk.

"Are we going or not?" Kagura was impatient. She couldn't wait to have a great sleepover party with Soyo-chan. Any plans of informing the Shogun about the rebellion was somewhere up there in the clouds, frolicking with the angels already.

"Doubles! Ready! On my mark, ready, set...GO!" Katsura fired off an air pistol as the Fake-Gintoki and Fake-Tsukuyo lifted off from the ground and dashed off into the opposite direction of Aikake's estate. Their job was to trick the men of Aikake's that was still lurking around, and lead them far far away so the real versions and Joui Rebels could proceed to Aikake's estate without any obstructions.

"It's not sports day! This is not even a race!"

The Joui Rebels duly ignored Shinpachi's comments and waited for a while for most of Aikake's men to clear out before marching out onto the streets of Kabukicho with Katsura, Tsukuyo and the colourful Gintoki leading the front.

Kagura on the other hand, had wandered off to the castle by her own. She couldn't give less shits about the Shinsengumi duo or Shinpachi. She was hungry for some scrumptious food at the castle, and she was getting some. The 3 men chased after her, calling up to wait for them.


	16. Chapter 16

Saito woke up to a bone-chilling cold, shivering uncontrollably.

He was tied to a metal chair with chains, the chill of the cold metal biting into his skin. He could not see very well in the mist formed in the frigid room, and his breath was visible. Saito's long coat was taken off, leaving him with only the mask, his black waistcoat, pants and dress shirt underneath. The room was bright white, glaring lights shining down upon him. His wounds were numb in the cold, and he felt woozy as his brain started to shut down in order to protect itself from the icy environment. If he continued staying, he would definitely get hypothermia.

Footsteps echoed in the room as a shadow approached him, unfocused in the mist. It sat down in front of him in another large cushioned chair which Saito hadn't noticed earlier. Saito shook his head several times to clear his addled mind, and squinted at the figure which was becoming clearer as the mist moved past.

The man in front of him was bundled up in thick fur coats and gloves. His shifty eyes looked Saito over condescendingly, clicking his tongue at Saito's half destroyed hairstyle. He had a long, hooked nose which reminded Saito of a witch, and thin lips with equally thin hair.

"Fucker, do you know who I am?" The man leaned back into the cushion, staring down at Saito from his nose. Saito wondered if he could see anything at all with that huge nose blocking the way. He didn't answer the question verbally, but he did _**mentally**_ _._

_You must be one of Aikake's lackeyz. Ordered to torture mez._

"Oi, brat, are you deaf? Can't hear my question? Answer me! Who am I?"

_Thatz'z a question everyone asks themselves throughout the course of their life, you'll have to find the answer by yourselfz._

The man glared menancingly at Saito, slamming his gloved hand onto the armrest. A knife sprang out from a compartment hidden in the chair. The man, whom Saito had dubbed as Hooked Nose in his mind, gripped the knife and pointed the blade at Saito.

"If you don't answer my question, I'll cut off your fingers one by one. Then I'll move on to your toes, and then your ears and eyes—"

Saito nodded off.

"OI WAKE UP! I'M TALKING OVER HERE!" Hooked Nose threw his knife and it grazed Saito's cheek, cutting a little slit open on his mask. Blood welled up from the shallow cut, one drop soaking into the black mask.

Saito had a hard time opening his eyes. The cold was making him sleepy. He had no interest in answering Hooked Nose's questions, even if he was gutted open and hung naked on the Terminal for everyone to see, he wouldn't speak.

"Son of a bitch, don't think that you can get away for not answering." Hooked Nose pressed another button on the cushioned armrest, activating another contraption. It was not a knife this time, but a tiny portable heater.

Hooked Nose put the heater right onto Saito's lap, turning the heat on to maximum. The heater warmed Saito's abdomen, and brought some feeling back into his numb body. Saito sighed contentedly a little at the warmth, getting drowsier by the minute.

But then, Hooked Nose snatched the heater back, leaving Saito alone again with the icy cold.

"Do you know who am I? Answer my question and I'll give you the heater for 5 minutes."

Saito craved for the warmth of the heater, but he wouldn't dare to open his mouth. So he just stared blankly back at Hooked Nose.

"Well, if you want to know so much, I'll tell you, since you must not know of my acclaimed reputation." Hooked Nose put his long nose up into the air, continuing in his own fantasy.

_No. I don't want to know and I don't carezzzzzzz..._

_"_ My name is Shiramo Nagai! The famed right hand man of Lord Aikake! The one who is— DON'T FALL ASLEEP YOU BASTARD!" Hooked Nose crushed the heater under his foot in a fit of anger.

In truth, Hooked Nose was just the right-hand man of the right-hand man of the right-hand man of the right-hand man of the right-hand man of Aikake's.

This continued on, with Hooked Nose babbling and screaming at the sleeping Saito, making meaningless threats at him. Saito closed his eyes and hoped that his Vice-Commander would send help faster.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE HATAKE KAKASHI?! WEARING THAT STUPID MASK!"

"Z...Z...Z..."

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Rae slapped a guard with her still free right hand, as he attempted to tie her hand back to the bed post.

"Oh, cupcake, watch it. It will only hurt your hand doing that."

The guard had not flinched from Rae's assault and pinned her hand back, swiftly tying her hand to the bed. Rae was back in the same position she was in a few hours ago, except this time, she was in her own bedroom. Everything was still left in its original state when she escaped with Yura. On her bedside table, was a photograph of Yura and Rae, dressed in their finest on Rae's birthday. _Yura...I'm so sorry. I couldn't escape._ She would never see Yura's dazzling smile ever again.

Aikake stepped closer, motioning for the guards to exit the room. He savoured the crestfallen look on Rae's face as she glimpsed the photograph by her table.

"Welcome back, cupcake. How do you like it so far?" Aikake sat onto the bed, gesturing to the room. Rae kept her eyes and mouth shut tight, doing her best to pretend Aikake did not exist.

"Open your lovely eyes. Aren't you loving this?" Aikake ran a hand through Rae's sleek black hair, loving the feel of it. Rae jerked her head sideways from Aikake's touch, but still kept her eyes closed.

Aikake's face shifted into a relaxed mask, but his tone was full of restrained anger. " _ **Bad cupcake**_ , be prepared to get punished."

Rae's heart palpitated at his words. It never meant good whenever he says that. _Please don't let it be that._

"You really thought you could escape? What a fanciful thought." Aikake slid a hand under Rae's kimono, carressing her inner thigh. "You're mine. Forever and ever." Aikake leaned forward and nipped Rae's earlobe lightly, flicking out the tip of his tongue.

Rae's eyes shot open at the contact. _No, oh my god, no please don't. I don't want it!_ She used all her strength and knocked her head against Aikake's. She had enough of him.

"That barely hurt, cupcake." Aikake breathed across Rae's face, bedroom eyes roving over Rae's disgusted expression. "It's not your first time too, why resist? Hmm?" His hand moved further upwards, and Rae twitched. She wanted to upchuck at Aikake's touch. She loathed it.

"However, cupcake, I have a surprise for you." Aikake kissed her on the lips. "Bring her in."

Shivers crawled up her skin as her lips touched Aikake's. _DISGUSTING._ She needed to wash off his vile touch.

The door to the room opened, and men carrying an awfully human shaped object wrapped with a sack entered, hanging the human-shaped object onto a noose that hung from the wooden beam of the ceiling. They heaved the head in, and tightened it, letting the sack swing ominously back and forth. The scene was absolutely disturbing.

 _Her. Aikake said 'her'._ A horrifying thought descended upon Rae. _It's not Maiko. It cannot be Maiko. Maiko is still alive in the dungeon._ Rae persuaded herself. _Maiko is alive. That thing cannot be Maiko._

The guards retreated back to their posts outside the room, and left trays of various tools on a table. Barbed whips, serrated knives, thumbscrews, injectors with non-fatal poison that bring unimaginable pain; the list was endless.

"The best has yet to come, _**cupcake.**_ " Aikake picked up a knife from one of the trays, and lightly grabbed the feet of the human-shaped object. "Pardon me while I open your present. You will _**love**_ it."

Aikake grinned, grey eyes shining with malice and expectation. He slit open the sack, allowing the folds of the fabric to unfurl slowly.

A head of chocolate brown hair emerged, then wide, open blue eyes were revealed, frozen in death. Aikake pulled the sack off the human object completely.

Rae's heart stopped.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! YOU FUCKHOLE!" Anger, horror and disbelief swept through Rae.

_Yura._

Yura's corpse swayed soundlessly, the tug from Aikake putting her back in motion. Stiffness kept her head upright, her vacant blue eyes staring into the headboard of the bed. Only a hint of the mocking smile she had given the guards remained. Her skin was pale and waxy, and her body that was riddled with bullet holes had stopped bleeding a long time ago. Rae could see through the holes to the wooden wall on the other side. Despite being a few days old, Yura only gave off the light smell of... ** _death._**

Rae gagged at the sight of her best friend's state.

" ** _AIKAKE_**!" A scream tore from Rae's throat, raw with hatred and fury. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO YURA?!" Tears of frustration sprang from her eyes. She spewed curses at Aikake, voice getting higher with each syllable, cracking with sadness as her throat swelled from emotions she could not express with mere words.

"LET HER DOWN! DON'T YOU DARE TREAT YURA LIKE THAT! LET HER DOWN RIGHT THIS SECOND!" Rae's wrists and ankles bled again as the unhealed wounds were opened by her thrashing.

"I knew that you would love it." Aikake grinned, his eyes full with glee at Rae's reaction. Oh, she was just like a cute little harmless kitten throwing a tantrum.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! You're mental! You psychotic bastard!"

"Isn't Yura still as ravishing as ever? A few days of freezing in the cooler kept her from being sullied by those little crawling maggots." Aikake stroked Yura's limp hair. Rae screeched at Aikake to take his filthy hands off of Yura.

He complied.

"There's another present for you to open, my cupcake." Aikake called out to the guards once again, and they stepped in with an alive and kicking human. They hung her right beside the lifeless Yura by the waist, her hands bound behind her back. She was blindfolded and struggling to reach the ground, a clear contrast against the unanimated Yura.

"What's going on?! Where am I?!" Maiko yelled, fear tinging her voice.

"Maiko!"

"Rae? Rae! What's happening? I can't see anything!" Maiko stopped struggling, feeling relieved that her friend was here.

"I—"

Aikake cut off Rae with a deep, mocking laugh. "Maiko dear, rest assured, you won't die. Not now, at least."

"Aikake! What are you doing here?! Release me!" Maiko being her audacious self, zeroed in on the direction of his voice, and attempted to land a kick on him.

"Oho. Good try, dear." Aikake leaned slightly to the right, Maiko's foot missing him by an inch. His smile never slipped from his face.

"Let them go, Aikake! I'll stay here, so let them go!" Trepidation crawled in Rae's stomach. _I need to get them out of here!_

"Oh no, sorry, cupcake, I can't answer to your request." Aikake shrugged his shoulders nonchalently, exchanging the knife for a barbed whip. He turned, beaming at Rae.

"They are here to substitute you. After all, we can't get your lovely skin all scarred again."

The whip cracked without warning.

An ear-splitting scream burst out of Maiko as the hooked barbs on the whip tore into her flesh. The long-reaching whip included Yura into its attack, splitting open her pale skin, but no blood flowed out from her wounds. Yura just stared and stared, unaware of her friends' terrified screams, of the blood that was not hers staining her skin, bringing colour to her ashen, dead complexion.

"STOP! STOP IT!"

Rae's protests were drowned out by Maiko's screams as Aikake flicked his wrist again and again, the barbed whip lashing out into the air, as graceful as a snake, but its bite was more than deadly. It struck into the soft flesh, and dyed the ripped clothes of Maiko's with a bright red. The wet sound of the barbs being pulled out of Maiko's flesh made Rae want to rip her ears off and clean it from her memory.

Tiny bits of Maiko and Yura's flesh splattered everywhere, sticking onto the exalted face of Aikake. His feral grin coupled with copper red blood was at odds with his usual pleasant mask. He didn't mind the body tissues on his face. Aikake indulged in the grisly sight, his heart soaring with an electrifying thrill as every slash of the whip met the soft resistance of bodies. The petrified screams were melodious to his ears. The horrified expressions were pleasing to his eyes. The metallic smell of blood and the crimson arc it drew in the air everytime it sprayed out was splendid. Everything was perfect. Everything was _**gratifying.**_ He wanted to stop time in its movement and savour the joy he was feeling, bubbling and frothing from within.

" _ **RAE! MAKE IT STOP! HELP ME RAE!"**_ Maiko pleaded, her words incoherent as splitting pain distorted her voice. Her tears blended with the blood spurting out of carved lesions.

 _StopstopstopstopSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOP—_ ** _"STOP IT!"_** Rae wailed, demented at the sight of Maiko being tortured. Because of her. Because she couldn't protect her friends. She couldn't protect anyone, she was not fit to be their friend, she was the root of all their suffering. She should just die. Die and never come back. Never bring misery to anyone else ever again. Death was the only method she could use to protect everyone.

Rae's fearful green orbs tracked a large piece of sinewy flesh as it was torn off, the irregular edges catching the light, highlighting beads of red blood spraying out in an arc. The flesh smacked Yura squarely in the chest. It slid down slowly, lubricated by the bodily fluids currently gurgling from the gashes that had opened in Aikake's enthusiastic whipping.

Rae's stomach lurched as she caught a glimspe of Yura's grey-pinkish intestines peeking over the edges of the large gashes. Yura's body had began its process of decomposition as it gradually warmed. Her unfrozen skin cut open easily like a piece of paper.

"RAE!" Maiko's piercing cries died down as she slipped into unconciousness, her body's pain limiters overloading.

Aikake frowned. There was no sound coming out anymore from the woman. It wasn't just as fun without some screaming. He felt angry at the woman for being so weak and fainting so quickly. It dampened his spirits. _Tch. It was just getting more exciting and she had to be a wet blanket._

"MAIKO! Maiko! Open your eyes! No, no, you can't die!"

Aikake kicked Maiko in frustration. His embroidered silk shoes came away red.

 _Not enough. I haven't had all the fun I wanted._ Aikake turned his attention to Yura, and switched back to a knife.

"I've always heard about this woman being your best friend. It is about time to repay her for her meritorious service of taking good care of you, don't you think so?" The manifestation of the demon himself flashed Rae another poisonous smile.

Then he swiftly plunged his knife into Yura's chest. Yura's guts spilled over, one end of her intestine swinging languorously.

Rae's mind went white with rage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know dead bodies don't bleed but I'm not sure about other body fluids-im too lazy to google :D lets just say it does


	17. Finally a Flashback Arc?

Riveting gold eyes fixed onto Aikake's.

One moment it was a bright burnished gold, the next it was abruptly sucked back into rapidly expanding and contracting pupils, turning back into the familiar moss green. Rae gritted her teeth, struggling to supress her bloodlust.

However, one eye burst out into an explosion of gold, the colour swallowing up the peaceful green. Slit-like pupils stretched over the striking colour. Indeed, it striked a bolt of excitement into Aikake's heart, a smile splitting open his features.

One gold. One green.

The hypnotising eyes of different colours glared straight at Aikake's offending hand, still wrapped around the hilt of the knife buried in Yura's chest.

" _Get. Your. Hands. Off—her._ " A snarl punctuated her sentence, unexpected even by Rae herself. She was half in control of herself, the other half being clamped onto by the opportunistic Siren.

_No. I will never lose control of myself again. Never._

"My cupcake, don't fight back. Your Siren is very fascinating, it's a shame to lock her up." He had been waiting for this, waiting to see that ferocious side of hers. This whole set-up was just created for that.

" ** _Don't_** touch my Yura." A poisonous tone sounded throughout the bloody room. It only made Aikake's smile grow wider; the musical accent to her voice was getting stronger.

"What can I do to let you release your Siren friend? Hmm?" Aikake pulled out the knife with a sudden jerk, slanting the knife so it cut horizontally outwards.

Rae's left arm spasmed in the instinct of her Siren self to claw out Aikake's throat. Fury almost let her grip on her sanity loosen, and her stormy green iris was tinted with yellow for an instance. Rae swallowed down the urge to just let her Siren self go on a rampage. She didn't want to accidentally kill Maiko in the fit of crazed bloodlust.

_I have to control. Control it! Control!_

"Not good enough? What about this?" Aikake shoved the knife into the side of Yura's neck, getting only halfway through and missing the rope still hung around her neck. Yura's head lolled to the side, discoloured flesh and white bone presenting itself to its audience. She was still held up on the undamaged side of her neck by the rope, oscillating with a sinister creaking in the wooden beam.

" _YURA!_ "

 _Not enough._ Aikake glanced at the rim of green still combating against the wave of gold trying to encompass the whole iris.

So he gave another hack.

Yura's head hung precariously by a stretch of skin, and her body—there was no head to fit into the noose— fell to the floor, limbs askew, head attached by a piece of dead tissue, open eyes fixing upon the unconsious Maiko.

Imagine looking at the most important person in your life lying on the floor. Imagine that she had given up her life to protect you, but instead of dying peacefully. She was preserved and frozen, like a piece of meat. Then cut up, in the most vulgar way you could defile a body, and served to you, the one whom she died to protect. **All because of you.**

Rae snapped.

All semblance of control was overridden by the Siren, an earth-shattering roar announcing the full unleashing of the Amanto. There was no musical tune to it. It was a roar of an animal celebrating its freedom from its cage.

The force swept the room and plucked objects from their nails in the walls; the floorboards splintered; while Aikake held his ground, hair blown back wildly from his face. But he was shrieking with ecstasy in tandem with the creature in his heart.

_Finally. Finally! You have outdone yourself, my cupcake!_

Rae, banished deep down by the Siren, would never forgive herself if she allowed her own lack of control please Aikake. Even if all she wanted was to let the Siren eat his heart out and crush his skull to a pulp.

She smashed through the thick barricade put up by the Siren.

And she brought the Siren down with her.

The celebratory roar ceased abruptly.

The wide grin on Aikake's face went with it.

"Cupcake."

Cupcake was lost in her own dark mind.

A rare moment of Aikake losing control over his own emotions.

" ** _YOU BITCH_**!" _So close! SO CLOSE!_

The taste of having a sweet delectable treat being promised to you, and then stolen away by a despicable bully.

Aikake slipped back quickly into calm anger, calling servants in. The servants entered, holding pails of hot water and towels. Not a single one expressed any form of shock or disgust. After all, they were used to it.

Wiping down their master and the lady in bed covered in blood, they swiftly repeated their routine and took their leave. Aikake did not bother to clean up Yura still splayed out on the floor, nor the near dead Maiko and blood soaking into the wooden boards.

He'll let them watch. Dead or unconscious, he'll let them watch.

Aikake climbed onto the bed, straddling Rae.

Rae's long eyelashes cast a shadow over her blood-drained face, her smooth jet-black hair spread across the bedsheet dotted with blood and matter. Aikake didn't care. He was getting his treat tonight, no matter what.

Ripping open the front of Rae's tattered kimono, he rewarded himself with the feel of the satiny skin. His tongue trailed up her collarbone to her neck, suckling and nipping. His hands did not stay free either, groping the soft mound on her chest, while the other flipped up the edges of the kimono, exposing long shapely legs.

It was a feel that he had not enjoyed for a while now.

 _Mine. All mine._ Aikake gloated inwardly, forcing Rae's lips open with his own.

_Tasty._

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Rae was lost to the outside world.

She would have bitten Aikake's tongue off if she knew what he was doing to her.

Unfortunately, she was stuck in her own battle of wills against the Siren—in her subconscious mind. She choked the Siren, a beautified version of her own self. The Siren was not one to lose out to a weak young human, and smashed her elbow into Rae's stomach, biting down onto Rae arm as she loosened the hold on her.

"Why must you come back to haunt me?! Haven't you brought enough misery into my life already?! Just stay quiet!" Rae kicked the Siren back, releasing her arm from the nest of razor teeth.

The Siren snapped its teeth back in reply.

Rae pulled out all her 'shrew' abilities, kicking, biting, punching, hair-pulling, slapping; it would have made the Jersey Shore* cast proud of her.

The Siren was eventually subdued under Rae's crazy fighting style. Rae slammed the cage door on her, triumphantly smiling at the Siren. The Siren hissed its indignation at being locked up again. Rae made sure that the cage was reinforced with triple-layered titanium walls, and hundereds of 9-combination passcode locks. Not that it would help the slightest if Rae let her emotions get too carried away again, but it reassured her nonetheless.

The Siren slunk into a corner, drawing circles on the cage floor moodily. A dark depressed aura weighted down on it, some of the aura seeping out of the barred window of the cage.

Rae didn't want to face reality. She didn't want to surface from her subconcious and see her friends lying there helplessly. She wasn't sure if she could repeat her miraculous victory over the Siren again if she opened her eyes to see the mutilated bodies of her friends.

_Just a little while more._

Drained from the fight, she leaned against the cage wall, staring up at the endless blackness of her own subconcious. There was only the Siren and her here. Oddly at peace, Rae started a conversation with herself. Or rather, the brooding Siren.

"Do you remember when we were younger, no one wanted to be friends with us?"

The Siren hummed melancholy.

"I couldn't keep you in a cage then, so my eyes were gold. It scared the others so much when they learned that my _weird_ eyes was because of my heritage." Rae's voice dipped a little when she recalled the discriminating tone of the children. She chuckled slightly at the memory.

The Siren huffed indignantly as if to say ' _It wasn't my fault you were so weak you couldn't control me!'_

"Remember when mother said she hated my eyes?"

No answer from the Siren.

Rae's eyes were hooded with dark emotions as she walked down the memory lane. It was nothing fluffy, nothing bright and warm about her lane. Just more blackness.

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 _"Mummy? Where is Daddy?"_ _The little child of 5 years looked up at her drunken mother with bright eyes, both shining a lusturous gold_

_"Gone, Rae. Now shoo. Go back to bed." Her mother slurred, the alcohol muddling her brain._

_"Gone? Will Daddy be back?" The innocent child questioned again._

_"Back?" Mother laughed maniacally, her vodka spilling onto the floor as she swayed dangerously on her perch on the chair. "No, Rae, he's gone back to his other fish wife. You know, the_ _**original** _ _wife, his_ _**original** _ _family? We were just his moment of spontaneous attraction."_

_Downing the alcohol in one shot, her mother screamed and threw the glass at the opposite wall. Shards of glass scattered in a shower of gleaming sparkles under the waning moonlight. The poor child jumped, a sheen of unshed tears bringing out her odd eyes even more._

_"D-Don't be sad Mummy, Rae is here." Rae sniffed, her voice trembling a little. She reached out a small hand to grab onto her mother's pants._

_Rae may be young, but she had always known of this other family her mother spoke of. Because her Daddy always told her she wasn't meant to born. She was told that she was a mistake in the first place, and her Daddy had to go back to his real family. She always feared the day that her Daddy leaves would arrive, and it did._

_Her unstable mother sprawled across the tabletop, pressing the side of her face against the cold marble slab. She glanced down at her daughter, eyes and features so much like that vile low-life._

_"Your eyes. I hate it. I hate your eyes. You look so much like him."_

_Rae's tiny heart crumpled at the cutting words her mother uttered._

_"You don't...like m-my eye, Mother? I...Rae will cover her eye. Mummy, don't be sad anymore..." Rae lifted a hand to place it upon her eyes, the otherwordly golden eyes disappearing behind the small hand._

_"You remind me so much of him. I hate your face. I hate_ _**you** _ _. Get lost."_

_Tears splashed onto the floor as Rae sniffled and hiccupped. "Rae...Rae will cover her face for M-mummy. D-don't hate Rae...Rae will cover her face..."_

_Rae covered her face with both of her hands, sobs wracking her body. "Mummy...mummy okay with Rae now?"_

_"I don't want to see you. Go back to bed." Her mother's green eyes were filled with scorn, glaring at the little child who resembled her lover so much._

_"Mummy..."_

_"GO BACK TO BED! DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME YOU BRAT?!"_

_"Y-yes...mummy." Rae ran to her bedroom, stumbling in the dark corridor while blinded by her tears. She dived under the covers, burying her face into the pillow so as to not make too much noise that might cause her mother to explode again._

_The heavens opened up at that moment, rain pouring down, pattering against the tiled roof of the house. It drowned out the sound of her mother's rampage and screaming from the kitchen._

_Little Rae smothered herself with the pillow further with all her strength, her right golden eye lightening then darkening, shifting colours violently, but gradually it was dominated by the colour of glittering emeralds._

_One rebellious gold eye left._

_Rae cried herself to sleep with the soothing rain in the background._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hallelujah~ its time to shed some light on Rae's past! FLASHBACK ARC OFFICIALLY STARTS! :D The next chapters will be about Rae, you'll have to wait for a little while more for the rest of the crew to save Rae from Aikake.
> 
> Jersey Shore: an American reality TV show where it follows the lives of 8 housemates spending their summer at the Jersey Shore of U.S New Jersey
> 
> I heard that they fight A LOT (i never watched it) so I just plunked it in when I randomly thought of it


	18. Deprived

Ever since her Daddy left, her Mummy was never the same again.

Her mummy drank everyday, going to bars and clubs, and bringing different men home each day. She was fired from her job not long after. There was never a day when her mother was sober. All their relatives were just mere strangers now after her mother had gotten involved with Daddy and pregnant with Rae, the disgusting half-human abomination.

Rae never knew how her mother even remembered to pay the bills, or how her mother even got the money to pay for their basic necessities. Nor how her mother sometimes still remembered to wash their laundry.

But they got through the slow years, with her mother ignoring her existence.

To her mother, Rae was sure that she was just a freeloader that was unusually young. She was not her mother's daughter anymore. Her mother only acknowledged her when Rae handed her report cards and forms to be signed. Even then, her mother always circled the 'Guardian' option when the paper prompted about the relationship between the child and adult.

Her mother was trying to cope with the loss of her father by pretending the whole relationship never happened, and tried to make herself forget about her father with each new man she brought back every night, the smell of alcohol so strong it permeated through the walls of her bedroom. Rae melted candles for wax ear-plugs when the noises got unbearable.

And the most important thing to forget, was of course the love child between them. Rae.

All 3 meals were always pre-prepared in the morning if her mother was not having a bad hangover, and Rae would eat the cold food silently on her own, while her mother disappeared off to god-knows-where. At the age of 5, getting to school on her own was quite a feat. The teachers loved to praise Rae for it, calling her a strong, independent little girl.

Apparently, they didn't love her so much after she told everyone that she was half-amanto in a show-and-tell class.

Rae could tell she made a mistake as the adoration in her teacher's eyes suddenly changed into something else she could not comprehend. But as she grew older, she realised what that 'something else' was.

**_Fear, repugnance, hatred._ **

The other children in her class screamed their heads off, running to the other classrooms to report about the Amanto who was dressed in a human skin. Chaos ensued.

By the next day, everyone in the school—from the little rats hiding in the drains to the balding Principal—knew about Rae's heritage. It was a miracle she was not expelled on the spot. Rae guessed that it was because the Principal could not get a hold on her mother. Her friends stayed far away from her, calling her a 'weird eyed fish' who should just go jump into the river and never come back up.

In one day, just because of Rae's "My eyes are green and gold because my Daddy is a Amanto Siren", she lost everything else that was close to her heart.

Rae tried telling her Mummy to let her switch schools. But of course, the wasted woman was in no mood to hear 'a stranger's' pleas.

So Rae endured. Endured the teachers' indiscriminate scolding; anything bad happened was automatically her fault, and she endured all the bullying from her classmates. And she never cried.

However, being actually bullied meant that she was being noticed by someone. Her existence was being acknowledged. Truthfully, Rae was a little happy at being bullied.

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3 years crawled by.

The 8 year old Rae stared blankly at her new stepfather. Her mother had picked up a man from a bar, and somehow without Rae's knowledge— gotten married with that man.

That man was as rotten to the core as Don*** Tr***. ( **A/N: cough cough don't kill me pls)**

"What is this?! I wasn't told that you have a kid!" The man's otherwordly hairstyle (which frankly looked like seagulls shat on his head and then lizards went in to live for a few months) was the first thing that caught Rae's eye.

"Ahouto, don't worry, she's just my relative's daughter. She was sent to live with me since her parents died. You don't have to care about her."

"Her eyes are so... ** _weird_** **.** "

"She was just born with that deficit. I told you, you don't need to care about that brat."

"Okay. Mmm, you smell really nice today, deary." The ugly man who had the face of a Tenryuubitou **(A/N: idiots from One Piece. Google them. They are really ugly. And horrible.)** nuzzled her mother's neck in a public display of affection.

Rae wondered if her mother had gone off her rocker and married a man whose name suspiciously sounded like 'Aho' (which meant stupid), and the worst looking hairstyle in 2 billion years, paired with a ugly face.

But still, Ahouto had the money. He provided enough for them to live without a single worry. He didn't give a crap about Rae too, and pretended she did not exist.

Rae was used to the ignoring already.

But being used to it does not mean it still didn't hurt.

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1 year later.

A sniveling, somewhat acceptable looking baby sister was born. Rae bet that her mother's beautiful features redeemed the fate of the baby being born looking like total trash.

Her mother had quit drinking for the sake of a healthy baby.

Rae wished she had done so for her 4 years ago.

But why should her mother do that for her? She was the bane of her mother's existence. Her mother had no reason to do it for such a bastard child like her.

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2 years flew by.

Rae was now 11 years old, and her spoiled half-sister was proving to have the personality of a Tenryuubitou too.

She named the little banshee as 'Motherf******'secretly.

One may question Rae why does she have the fabulous vocabulary of someone much older, to which Rae would reply "Try not to hear all the words vomited out of those 2 adults."

Back to her little sister Chiaki, the motherf***** was yelling her head off and banging her plastic spoon on the baby highchair, demanding for her food.

Her mother cooed, and picked up motherf***** Chiaki, petting her on the back in an attempt to soothe her and stop her ghastly screaming. Chiaki was so 'relaxed' that she shoved her spoon into mother's eye, then spat her foul-smelling (oh no, no, she didn't smell like milk and honey) saliva into mother's gaping mouth.

Mother spluttered. She looked like a volcano about to erupt before she forcibly calmed herself down, counting to ten under her breath.

Then she pinched Chiaki's cheeks lovingly like nothing had happened and Chiaki did not just attack her face earlier. Mother put the thrashing baby back onto her highchair, then began to feed the banshee with extreme patience and care. Whenever Chiaki spat her food back out, her mother would clean away the dribble of food on Chiaki's chin with the most affectionate expression Rae ever saw in her whole childhood.

Green and golden eyes watched from the The look on her **mother's** face. Why did her own mother never show her that same expression?

Right. Because she was a mistake to begin with.

Her golden eye swirled, whorls of emeralds blending in. The bright green merged seamlessly with the warm gold before overwhelming it.

Both eyes now shone green. Her Siren was locked up.

Still, her mother never noticed her change in eye colour.

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As Rae grew older, the couple had another 'lovely' child of theirs. She looked far worse off than her older sister. Rae decided to dub the kid as 'F***tart'.

Yeah, praise Rae for her wonderful choice names.

F***tart was born on the same day as Rae.

Her mother and the ugly son of a bitch threw a huge party and invited all their friends over.

Not a single person spared the young adolescent in the dark corner a glance as they joyously sang the birthday song.

Not a single person remembered her 13th birthday. Her birthday that they should be celebrating for. Not that f***tart.

The flames on the candles of the birthday cake was extinguished by F***tart's shower of spit. The thought of F***tart being a exceptional firewoman crossed Rae's mind.

Rae returned to her room reluctantly, giving second glances at the decorated chocolate cake. Sweets and warm meals were a luxurious dream for Rae. She had barely enough to scrape by with that measly sum of money the couple were providing her. Furthermore, as each year passed, the amount dwindled even more.

Lunchboxes were another problematic issue for Rae, the mean couple locked up their refrigerator and most of their food, leaving only canned supplies and other useless things. Rae always had to starve for the first hour of break and then run out to buy a sandwich for her lunch break.

She had no friends either to share their lunchboxes with her. Rae kept mostly to herself, her makeshift eyepatch she wears to school already giving off the impression to anyone that she was a scary emo kid. No one approached her, and Rae did not approach them.

Dinner was the same old story. Rae had to eat separately from the couple and their pair of demons since the Ahou (referring to Ahouto) claimed that her presence disturbs the calm and peace of the dinner table and scares their lovely innocent children. The two demons always cried when they saw Rae, and Rae didn't want to eat with snivelling, snotty brats either.

So Rae ate alone in her room with her egg on rice, sprinkled with some seaweed. ( **A/N: sounds like Kagura** ) Nevertheless, these skimpy meals were the best she could ever have.

It was what she deserves after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to shorten Rae's past as much as possible without losing the essence of it. Cuz I know some of you are bouncing around impatiently for your lovely Gin-san or Hijikata or Okita to appear.


	19. Mother of all Liars

With the number of ribs poking through her skin, Rae could play the xylophone with them if she had a pair of mallets available.

Money. Rae needed money. Money to buy food to fill up her empty stomach.

What was better than using her Siren abilities to earn money?

Singing? Nah, she had not touched on it ever since her father left and might cause someone's brain to explode accidentally instead.

Dancing? Dance to what exactly? She had no training, no ways to search up on music either.

Rae scrunched her face up in thought, finally settling on something she had never thought much about in the scope of her Siren abilities.

It was a instinct, a second nature for her to be able to read the emotions of another person fairly well. Especially in areas regarding romantic feelings.

Well, she wasn't sure why or how Sirens even developed this ability that had absolutely no connection to their speciality: singing (and luring men and women to their deaths).

_Who cares. I'm hungry._

Rae busied herself with the plan to set up a 'Love Fortune Teller' in the streets of Edo.

The next night, a rather professional looking station was set up on the side of the street close to a busy commercial center. A portable small white table was covered with a checkered tablecloth to hide its real age, all the cracks and chips invisible under the bright streetlight. Rae herself disguised as a old, mysterious woman, ragged clothes and a hood created with cloth scraps shadowing her unwrinkled features. A hand drawn sign was placed on the table: **Come and get your love troubles all untangled with just a session! $2 for each troubled customer. Anyone is welcome.**

The first night there was an awkward one. People threw her curious and disbelieving glances as they passed by. Mothers tugged their children closer to them, whispering to them to stay away from the 'creepy old woman'. Rae sat as still as a rock, waiting until all the lights shining through windows of residences winked out. No one came to her station.

It was well past midnight, and Rae grudgingly trudged back to her house, carrying all her supplies. The house was dark and eerie, all the tenants in it asleep soundly. Even though she had not been expecting for it, Rae still had this tiny hope that maybe someone would notice that she had not returned. Especially when this was the first time Rae had ever stayed out so late.

A locked front door greeted Rae instead.

Sighing deeply, Rae removed the spare key from under the flowerpot by the door and tiptoed quietly to her room.

The next evening after school, Rae set up her station at the usual spot, hoping for at least one customer. None came.

And the next day, and the next after that.

Finally on the fifth day of waiting, a drunk man who looked to be in his late twenties stumbled onto her little station.

The drunk man was just glad to find someone to vent to about his terrible love life, and could not care less that he was talking to a complete stranger.

Rae received her first customer with warm hospitality, letting him drone on and on about his girlfriend he had apparently broken up and gotten back together for the 139th time.

"Waaht s-should I do...to get her n-back?" The man slurred, resting his head dejectedly on the table.

Rae smiled, and listed out specific steps for the man to follow, noting them down onto a small paper and passing it to the drunk man. The man took his time to scan through and process the instructions. He suddenly jumped up from his seat, cupping the piece of paper like it was gold that rained down upon him from the sky. His eyes were bright with anticipation as he profusely thanked Rae, slamming down a $10 note without even hesitating and staggered off into the distance as fast as he could.

2 days passed and the drunk man who was completely sober now came back to Rae's station, towing a nervous friend along. Apparently Rae's method worked wonders and the girlfriend was all head over heels again for him. So the man brought another friend of his who was neck-deep in romantic troubles, hoping that this remarkable 'old woman' would be able to solve his friend's love problems.

Thus, Rae dished out another of her advice, penning it down on paper and passing it to the friend.

It worked wonders for the friend too.

Each previous customer reccommended more of their friends to her station each night, and soon, Rae was known as the 'Mysterious Lady of the Night' whose solutions to any love problems created or restored relationships miraculously.

Rae's business was booming, and she already was gathering a small fortune of her own by the end of year.

Rae stored all the money in a small compartment in her bedside table, planning to save them up so she could leave this depressing house and rent a small room in another place when she hits 18.

Rae also started educating herself on the art of cooking, using her own money to buy all the ingredients needed.

She didn't forget to occasionally treat herself to some cakes and new clothes with her hard-earned money, and teared up when she first tasted the sweet, fluffy chocolate cake melting in her mouth, worrying a few of the customers at the shop.

She won't have to endure a growling stomach anymore.

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Ahouto was fired from his job, and being the breadwinner of the family, they were faced with a financial crisis of their own. The two demons had expensive tastes, from everything they wear to everything they eat were all the best of the best. At the rate that their savings were being gobbled up by those two, they would be bankrupt in a month.

The two couples went job-hunting, but to no avail.

Rae would sometimes see her mother sit in the kitchen, her gaunt face buried in her arms, a mirror image to all those years ago.

She would rather have her mother ignoring her and be happy.

Rae started leaving half what she earns from her love advice business every week on the kitchen table during wee hours of the morning.

Rae knew the couple were all bewildered yet grateful for the extra funds that appeared every week, judging by how her mother's face was much brighter.

She thought her mother would never find out who was this Santa who left presents when it wasn't even Christmas, but she found a note with her mother's handwriting in place of where she always put the money.

**_Thank you._ **

A small ray of hope shined through the chink of her hardened walls, fissures expanding ouwards.

Inexplicable joy radiated from Rae's smile.

A chance has presented itself.

An image of her mother, smiling down at her with the same expression she gave to Chiaki years ago filled up her mind. Mother wants little Rae back again.

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Mother nodded in greeting at Rae.

_Mummy nodded at me! Mummy doesn't hate Rae anymore!_

Rae beamed at the woman standing in the kitchen, whom had arms wrapped around the demon spawns. Mother refused to further interact with her 'long-lost' child, and turned away.

Nevertheless, Rae was over the moon with that small nod of her mother's.

_Let time take its course, and Mummy will accept me again, I'm sure._

A flower of happiness bloomed in her chest.

_I won't be alone again._

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But her dreams turned delusional; a vain hope, as she realised it was never in her reach from the beginning.

It was all a daydream.

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Rae reeled back in shock as the posh servant standing in front of her told Rae of her fate.

She was sold. For 3 million dollars.

_Why?_

Rae turned to her mother.

The woman smiled at her. **_S-M-I-L-E-D._**

"Mummy. Why?" Confused and betrayed.

"Mummy? What is this child saying? Isn't she your relative's child? Why is she calling you her mother?" Ahouto had never heard nor seen a conversation ever take place between the two. The sudden revelation of the two's relationship was surprisingly difficult for his mind to process.

"We needed the money. You are willing to help your mother to get out of this predicament, right?" The stupid, fake smile was pasted seamlessly onto her face.

_Mother? Hahahaha! She calls herself my mother after 10 years of denying my existence._

Rae laughed till she bent over, clutching at her stomach.

The posh servant still stood at the door with a polite mask on, acting as if he had seen nothing and heard nothing. The well-polished Mercedes car parked behind him gleamed in the sunlight.

_Mother is smiling at me._

Rae cracked up at the thought. Her mother was smiling at her, but her mother was not smiling at her at the same time.

_This is not the smile I wanted to see._

Rae straightened suddenly, the sound of her laughter dying out. Her mother's smile slipped a little from her face in bafflement, but it was back in full force again in a milisecond.

_Mummy never loved me._

_Mummy never stopped hating me._

Tricked into the thought of being forgiven and loved, but reality tears apart the illusion cruelly.

The hope and happiness from that nod her mother had given her days ago collasped in on itself, breaking down into a powerful blackhole. The blackhole sucked everything into its depthless tunnel, bringing down her walls she had erected over the years. Her heart, her love, her joy, her sadness, her anger, followed soon after. The blackhole greedily gobbled everything inside of her up, leaving her with nothing.

Mother and Ahouto looked on silently as the little light that had made its way into Rae's eyes the past few days slowly leeched out.

What was staring back at them was not Rae anymore; just a broken, empty vessel.

"Miss Rae, please come with me. No belongings are needed at all, everything is provided for you at the Aikake estate."

Dull green eyes shifted to the bowing form of the servant.

"You can take the rest of my money in the drawer. Enjoy your riches." Rae emotionlessly said, her eyes never leaving the outstretched hand of the servant.

She had no one to live for, she had nothing to live for.

Rae placed her hand into the posh servant's, mindlessly following the man to the expensive car.

The sound of a slap was heard as Rae and the servant turned their back on them, and Ahouto's rage filled voice echoed in the small doorway. "YOU DIRTY SLUT! Why did you lie to me?!"

Seems that the idiot finally understood it.

Rae leaned back into the black leather seat, never turning back once to look at her one and only kin.

She had a mother for 15 years.

From now on, she no longer had one.

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A painful tug in her heart, as Rae came to conciousness.

A wide back with sparkling rainbow hair swam into focus.


	20. Koala Tsukki

_What the fuck is that glittering thing?_

Screams of battle and clanging of metal rang downstairs, then drowned out by a deafening explosion.

The sparkling monstrosity which was Gintoki's hair sprinkled loose glitter into the guards' eyes. Some of it went into Gintoki's as well. The guards rubbed at their eyes, cursing incessantly. Gintoki was cursing even louder and filthier than the guards, and took them down in an angry swipe of his bokuto.

Rae took a second to realise she was covered by Gintoki's kimono, her own green kimono underneath was torn open and exposing all her precious assets. The ropes binding her to the bed posts were cut off as well.

_Aikake!_

Bile rose up her throat, but she forced it down and focused on the situation.

Tsukuyo stormed into the room, flinging a unconscious guard at another guard Gintoki was fighting against.

"Rae!" Tsukuyo yelled, sticking another kunai into an advancing guard, then kicked him to the foot of the bed.

_What? What what what what what?_

"What are you guys doing here?! Run!" Rae sat up, eyes scanning the room wildly for Aikake.

"What do you think we are doing? I even got my hair all glittered up for you! Of course we are filming a hollywood action movie!" Sarcasm dripped from Gintoki's voice.

_Wut?_

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Katsura, Gintoki, Tsukuyo and the rest of the rebels melded into the night, avoiding lit and open areas where they could be spotted easily.

Especially when you have a shining beacon such as a mop of glitter hair.

The doubles were doing their jobs excellently, the motley crew of ex-rebel/terrorists/courtesan had only met a few of Aikake's men on their way.

They were all taken down by Gintoki before they could utter more than 5 words about his brilliant hair.

"IS THAT GLITT—" First one down.

"What is wrong with—" Second down.

"Did glitter and skittles collaborate—" Third **_dead._**

Gintoki looked up solemnly at the round moon hanging in the dark sky, face scrunching up with tears of sadness.

Katsura patted Gintoki on the shoulder, "Maa, Gintoki, don't look so sad! It's only for two days. You look fabulous!"

Gintoki elbowed his long-haired friend, and swore under his breath as some glitter floated into his eyes. "Zura! You're going to pay for my clinical fees for my damaged eyes!"

Elizabeth raised a white sign: Didn't you just see his collection? We have no money.

"Zura ja nai! Glit—uh—Katsura da!"

Gintoki gave a warning look to Katsura before taking off again. Tsukuyo punched a few of her admirers (Joui rebels) who were trying to hire her services, then followed after Gintoki.

They reached the Aikake estate without a hitch, and laid low in the bushes surrounding the entrance of the front gate.

"Gintoki, Tsukuyo-dono, we will distract the guards and keep them busy down here, the iron gate can't be blown open, but the wall can! Enter through the hole!"

Before Katsura finished his sentence, he was already signaling his men and leaping out of the bushes, a maniacal grin on his lips. He had been waiting for this moment to test out his new weapon.

"GO! JUSTAWAYNE! I CHOOSE YOU!" **(A/N: pokemon + batman reference)**

"Zura wa—"

Gintoki squinted his eyes as he watched a familiar orange cylinder object being thrown at the oncoming guards.

_Hold on. When did Zura start using Justaways?!_

And then the heavily modified Justaway spread open black bat wings- a batman mask snapped over its derpy face; and a transformed Justawayne was complete. Justawaynes sailed over the guards' heads, their change in trajectory surprising the guards.

"They are aiming for the wall!" One voice rose above the noise.

Too late. The Justawaynes crashed headfirst into the cement wall, triggering a huge explosion.

Guards yelled and dived for cover as an explosion more powerful than a usual Justaway sent shrapnel and chunks of wall at them.

"Gintoki! How do you like my Justawaynes?! I upgraded to Justaways but felt that they weren't cool enough, so I added some of Batman's specialties—you know, Way and (Bruce) Wayne?"

Gintoki was speechless as his friend roared with laughter at his own joke, fending off a stray arrow at the same time.  
 _It's not funny at all! DC Comics will come for our heads!_

"Gintoki!" Tsukuyo reminded the glitter man to get his ass moving.

"What the hell is that? Glitter?" Ill-concealed exclamations went rampant around the battlefield.

"He looks ridiculous."

"He does — AHHHHHHH!" They were cut short by hair shaving this time.

"MY HAIR!"

Gintoki sneered at a bald guard, his nose pointed high up in the air, bloodshot eyes filled with malice as he grinded the bald head under his boot. "What did you say, huh? You little runt! You dare to say one more word about my beautiful curls and I'll make sure you will stay bald for the rest of your life!"

The bald guard was surprisingly sassy while he choked on dirt, "I'll do one hundred situps, one hundred push-ups, one hundred—*cough*—squ..squats and run ten kilometres every single day! Then I'll come back to make sure you can't even grow hair down there!" ( **Ref to One Punch Man)**

Gintoki's eyes shined a thirsty blood red, applying more pressure on the man's head. "You'll be better off doing the Pig God workout— hundred burgers, hundred nuggets, hundred chicken legs and ten kilometres worth of fries every single day! Fatten yourself up so this Glitter Witch here can fire you up for dinner!" **(Ref to Hansel & Gretel + OPM)**

The other guards were all being entertained by Elizabeth who was flashing white boards at them, and had totally forgotten about their comrade trapped under the boots of Glittertoki.

Eli: Stop! DON'T MOVE! There's a Mewtwo on you!

Elizabeth held a cell phone in his other flipper, aiming the camera at the group of guards.

The guards gasped and obediently froze in place.

"Hurry and catch it! It's a Legendary!" One guard hollered excitedly.

Eli: Shhhhh...I need to concentrate!

Eli swiped his flipper across the black screen. Obviously there was no Mewtwo and no Pokemon GO either.

"Wait...why are we freezing for the enemy..."

Elizabeth finished off the guards with few swift manoeuvres of his katana. Blood soaked the dirt ground and Elizabeth's white suit. He took a step forward, the blood setting off his usual cute appearance into something menancing.

The Joui Rebels carved and cleaved into the throng of guards, creating a pathway for Tsukuyo and Gintoki to the open, smouldering hole in the wall.

The two flew through, slashing through another group of guards once they entered, with Joui Rebels filtering through behind to provide support.

Tsukuyo surveyed the estate manor with an eye. It was gigantic, no doubt, but the style of the structure deviated from its original look of wood and shoji screens. There were elements of modern architecture merged into it; some windows had glass panes in it, some shoji doors were replaced by the modern doors with hinges, and part of the wooden walls had been replaced by plaster ones too.

It was a funky house, all in all.

 _Still pleasing to the eye though,_ Tsukuyo thought. _Maybe Yoshiwara could use this style as_ _inspiration._  
( **A/N: hint hint)**

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"Aikake-sama. There are more intruders. One of them is Katsura Kotarou, and the other two are Mihoshi-sama's acquaintances. They have made their way through to the courtyard."

The head servant bowed low, keeping his eyes trained on the blood-splattered ground.

His annoyed master was savouring the sweet taste of an unconscious and very unwilling woman in bed, and he was just getting to the best part when he was rudely interrupted by his servant.

"Katsura Kotarou?" Aikake glanced down at Rae beneath him. "You certainly made quite a few friends, cupcake."

"Aikake-sama, the white-haired acquaintance of Mihoshi-sama is breaking through our ranks at impossible speed, they will reach the main hall very soon. Please prepare for evacuation for your own safety."

Aikake smirked at his servant who bowed even lower. "Evacuation? Since when have I become a coward? Watch your mouth, Miyajima. What can a few puny samurais do? "

Miyajima Hitomu knew he had angered his master. After years of service, whenever his master addressed him by his surname, it never boded well for him if he continued to stay within 2 metres of him.

"Yes, Aikake-sama."

"Wait. Bring those two," Aikake motioned for his servant to step closer, and whispered the rest of the sentence in his ear.

Miyajima's brown eyes widened by a fraction as he listened. "Yes, Aikake-sama." He swiftly bowed once more and took his leave.

One must always leave extra room for maneuvering.

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Gintoki and the others had fought their way through to the inside of the house.

The floor was glazed with so much blood that everyone could hear splashes of their own footsteps. Gintoki and Tsukuyo became whirls of sharp blades, each strike of their blades drew a shower of blood, each step they took crushed whatever unlucky chap's bones in their way; the singing of the blades whipping through the air accompanied by the ominous snapping sound of bones made the guards shiver in their boots. Both remembered to keep all the defeated guards alive but unconscious.

Those two were too frightening.

Cold sweat from wet palms lubricated the handle of their spears and swords, their grip slipping on their weapons. Shaking like a jello in an earthquake, the guards only had to take a step up before they would be mowed down like mere grass by the ferocious lawn mowers—Gintoki and Tsukuyo.

Tsukuyo grabbed a guard by the collar and disarmed him within seconds. "Where is Mihoshi Rae?"

"I-I..I don't k-know...!" The guard stuttered as he looked at the manifestation of Death itself in the face, trying to keep a certain liquid from leaking out under him.

Tsukuyo threw him to the side and grabbed another one.

Meanwhile Gintoki was trying to climb out of a trap he had no idea how he activated. The pointed tips of metal rods embedded in the floor of the trap glimmered cruelly, just an inch away from impaling his little junior down below. Gintoki spread his long legs ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)and pressed each foot against the two walls beside, supporting his body while fending off jabs and slashes from the suddenly emboldened guards above him.

"YAAAAH! THIS IS BULLYING!" Gintoki yelled, cold sweat dripping from his face as he slid down 0.0001 centimetres, a little closer to the pointy metal rod down below that could make him into a eunuch.

The guards didn't know whether to cry or laugh at his words. Who was the one that went around butchering their men like chickens?

What made it worse was Tsukuyo falling down onto him.

She was too engrossed in interrogating guards and did not realise the trapdoor that had opened up behind her. Her body tipped over the edge but as she tried to right herself again, the cowardly guards finally saw their chance and attacked all at once, catching her by surprise and pushing her over the edge.

And into the white samurai's open arms.

"WHAT THE HELL! I'M GOING TO BECOME A LADY ANY SECOND AND YOU CHOOSE THIS TIME TO FALL!" Panicked Gintoki slides down another 0.0001 centimetres at the sudden weight of Tsukuyo.

"Wha-WHAT ARE YOU DOING! LET GO OF ME!" Tsukuyo struggled as soon as she realised she was being carried princess-style by Gintoki. Red crept up to her cheeks and her brain started overloading.

"Don't move! We're going to die if you don't quit moving!" Gintoki growled, glancing up at the closing trapdoor above them. The smug and relieved faces of the guards peering down at them through the closing crack of the trapdoor was enough to piss Gintoki off.

"I'm going to skin them alive..." Gintoki muttered darkly.

Tsukuyo could only barely make out the sharp tips of the metal rods in the darkness. Left without choice, Tsukuyo hooked her arms around Gintoki's neck.

_Shit. I shouldn't have done that. Oh god, why did I do it..._

Tsukuyo could feel the strong muscles of Gintoki's neck bunched up in tension under her hands, and she was suddenly aware of the feel of his rippling arm muscles under her thighs and back. And her face was pressing into his hard chest.

Tsukuyo nearly combusted at the close contact, her face deepening into the same bright colour as Kagura's hair. She squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment and avoided looking up at Gintoki even though it was so dark they couldn't even see each other's faces clearly.

"Well, we aren't going to last long. Any plans?" Gintoki tilted his head down to look at the woman in his arms, his breath tickling over Tsukuyo's face. She opened her eyes a fraction to see striking red eyes that still stood out in the darkness staring down at her.

"I-I have a plan! I'll tell...I'll tell you if you let go of me!"

"Are you drunk? Do you see those spikes down there?"

"I...I don't like people touching me!" Tsukuyo groaned and slapped herself internally at the stupid words that she blurted out without thought.

_AAAAAAAAH WHY DID I SAY THAT!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF TSUKUYO! I HAVE ALREADY DISCARDED MY WOMANHOOD!_

_"_ I don't want to touch you any longer too, my life is going to be at risk even without those spikes below there waiting for me." Gintoki huffed, unaware of the psychological warfare currently taking place in Tsukuyo. Despite her jumbled mental state, she still noticed that Gintoki did not particularly deny he liked touching her.

"..."

"I have a plan,"Gintoki broke the suffocating silence that had descended upon them, "I can still reach the trapdoor here with my bokuto, but I need my right arm in order to pry it open."

Tsukuyo's mind was in a disarray and she agreed to his plan without even thinking.

"Wrap your legs around my waist." Red eyes zeroed in on purple ones.

"Huh?! What are you thinking y-you pervert!?" Tsukuyo hit Gintoki on the back of his curly head. A loud smack echoed throughout the enclosed space.

Gintoki squawked with pain and complained, "DO YOU WANT TO BECOME SHISH-KEBAB?!"

Tsukuyo finally grasped his meaning. _Ah. He can't carry me with only one arm. So...so I...I have to..._

Tsukuyo had ascended past the stage of just blushing; she was outright trembling with embarrassment and she even felt faint.

She shifted her hands over to grab onto Gintoki's shoulders (which she noted once again was very muscly and nice) and slowly adjusted herself to wrap her legs around his waist. The position pressed her front to Gintoki's chest, and for the umpteenth time in her life she cursed the Gods for endowing her large boobs. She held her position stiffly, trying to put as much distance between the two of them as possible, with Gintoki's left arm supporting her back. Tsukuyo couldn't help but shut her eyes again and pray with all her heart to escape this awkward situation immediately. The feel of Gintoki's well-maintained body was driving her crazy.

Gintoki didn't find it awkward at all. His perverted side was rather enjoying the situation.

_She looks like a little koala. Cute._

Gintoki smiled slightly, and tightened his grip on his bokuto, preparing to strike upwards—

"AAAH! WOMAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Stay still!"

Tsukuyo could not take it anymore and in a state of frenzy she let go of Gintoki.

Gintoki slid down dangerously close to the metal spikes, the tip of the spikes making contact with his black pants as he caught the falling Tsukuyo with both his arms, hugging her closer into his chest.

"For the sake of my future nights at cabaret clubs and Yoshiwara, **_stop moving_**!" His voice climbed up a few octaves, "My legs are fucking trembling right now and I can't support us both forever!"

"Sorry." Tsukuyo willed herself to calm down and focus on the pressing issue here: Gintoki's little birdy balls getting impaled and her getting impaled together with it.

Gintoki sighed with relief as he vaguely saw Tsukuyo returning to her serious self.

There were suddenly more screams from the guards above them as a voice that they never thought they would miss rang out.

"GINTOKI! ARE YOU DOWN HERE? My men told me you fell down a pit!"

"ZURA! Open the trapdoor!"

"Hold on! I'll cut it open!" Zura stabbed his katana straight down through the crack of the trapdoor, slicing off a tuff of Gintoki's sliver hair.

"ZUUURAAAA! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME OR SAVE ME?!"

"Apologies! I'll bomb it open! Justawayne!"

"Just get one of the guards to open—" Gintoki was cut off by the metal trapdoor exploding in his face. He shielded Tsukuyo from the flying shards, enveloping Tsukuyo's lithe body with his broad back.

Katsura pulled the couple up with a rope, patting the dust that was dulling Gintoki's rainbow hair off.

"Are you okay?" Gintoki looked Tsukuyo over for any stray pieces of metal that may have cut her.

"I'm fine, thanks." Gin nodded at her reply and turned to face the fresh wave of guards thundering down the corridor.

Tsukuyo noticed the small piece of the metal trapdoor sticking out of his back. He must have gotten it when he shielded her. Warmth and guilt rose up within her, but she pretended to not see the metal piece. Since Gintoki himself decided not show any signs of getting hurt out of consideration for her, she wouldn't go against his wishes as well.

_This irritatingly considerate bastard._

The short minutes of being trapped in the pit was another memory of Tsukuyo's to treasure.


	21. Kagura, Tenko, Souko, Pachie

Kagura pulled the wig off her head, tossing it into an alley. "This zura (wig) is so itchy! Why aren't you guys itchy at all, uh-huh?"

Okita smirked at the Yato girl scratching at her scalp, "It's because we actually know what is called 'endurance', you dumb alien."

"You want to do your 'endurance' while I pull out all your hair, uh huh?!"

"Kagura-chan, Okita-san, calm down, don't pick a fight or else you guys will give away our location to Aikake's men again." Shinpachi intervened.

Hijikata was nearing the end of his patience. The relentless bickering and small scuffles between the two throughout the whole journey with the tight uncomfortable kimono wore him down. They had one too many close shavings with Aikake's underlings from all the ruckus their impromptu fights made. One of Aikake's men was just about to notify their location to the rest but Okita's sharp eyes discovered the sneaky guy hiding under the flowerpot in time. As always, the Sadist Prince took great pleasure in his find.

Okita tried weaselling some useful information out of his catch, but all they could get was "I don't know anything! I was just told to capture you guys alive! I really don't know anything!".

Okita stripped the guy of all his clothes and possession, then positioned him into a 'Discolobus' position, and gave him a 200 kg (440 pounds for you 'Mericans) weight to 'throw' instead of a discus. Of course, Okita was not going to let him off so easily. He rigged the guy up with wires, so if the guy moved an inch—BOOM! The nearby bombs would be triggered and off it goes with his head.

Lastly, the Sadist planted a sign written with large, eye catching letters next to his exhibitant, then the group left the naked guy trembling in the night—both with the exertion of holding up the 200kg weight and because of the cold.

It was a great moment in Edo's history when citizens woke up the next morning to find the 'Live Action Discolobus' (as written on the sign) displayed proudly in the middle of the junction of a busy street.

Women screamed and mothers covered their innocent children's eyes from the weeping and crying 'statue', muttering about the lack of decency. Everyone veered far away from the weird naked man.

"ANYONE?! HELP ME PLEASE! CALL THE BOMB SQUAD! ANYONE?!"

Passer-bys skittered even further away at the mention of life-threatening bombs.

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The castle doors opened to Soyo-hime and her servant Maizou.

"Kagura-chan!"

"Soyo-chan!"

The two girls ran towards each other, Maizou at the back chiding the Princess on her manners.

"Won't you introduce me to your companions?" Soyo-hime glanced at the three men in disguise. They were too tall and oddly proportioned for females. Soyo focused on the two katanas two of them had brought. The katanas seemed very familiar to her...

"This is Pachie," Kagura pointed at Shinpachi with his braids, and Soyo giggled. She saw through his disguise easily. That pair of glasses undoubtedly belonged to Shinpachi, the glasses-wearing-the-human human.

"This is Sadi—Souko! And this flat chested one here is Tenko, uh-huh." Hijikata gave a twitchy smile. He had forgotten to stuff his front with some Nmaibo. Kagura came up with some excuse about how the two Shinsengumi members were die-hard fans of Soyo, and begged Kagura to let them meet the Princess in the flesh.

"Welcome to the castle, let's go in shall we? The winter wind is terribly cold tonight." Soyo guided her guests to her room.

As they pattered into the connecting corridor, Pachie nudged Kagura with his elbow and whispered, "Help us find a way to start the conversation!"

Kagura slapped her hand against Okita's Nmaibo-boobs, earning a surprised grunt from the bishounen. She slipped her hand under the fold of his kimono, pulling out a few Nmaibo crackers. Kagura responded to Shinpachi with a loud crunch as she sank her teeth into the snack.

"China. That was sexual harassment to a police officer. I'm going to arrest you later." Okita groped his own two unbalanced Nmaibo-boobs. "Now my left breast is smaller. At least its still bigger than yours."

"I'll eat all your boobs, uh-huh."

"Kagura-chan!"

"What are you guys whispering over there?! Be quiet!" Hijikata whispered loudly.

Soyo continued walking, the whole whispered conversation was too loud to not hear. She had finally figured out who the two unusual females were. After all, they had been her bodyguards for so many occasions. That bored tone and scolding gave it away. She was curious why both proud men had come for a 'kiddy' sleepover disguised as women.

 _Maybe they are on a secret mission!_ Soyo thought gleefully. The Princess decided she wouldn't expose their identities yet.

They reached Soyo's room after a long walk. Tea and snacks were served with speed as the guests settled down. Maizou stood behind Soyo, still within hearing range.

"Mmm! Soyo-chan! This is really delicious! What's this, uh-huh?" Kagura wolfed down the pastry within seconds.

"Osmanthus cake! The cook recently developed this recipe with some osmanthus flowers I planted in the garden. There's dinner coming up soon, so don't get yourself full now!" Soyo smiled at her best friend who was dropping crumbs everywhere.

Hijikata sighed inwardly. Looks like China girl wouldn't be helping him start the topic.

"Hime-sama—" Hijikata coughed violently to hide his mistake of using his normal voice, then continued with a high-pitched sugary sweet voice, "I'm afraid we have some important business to discuss with you."

"Hmm? Important business? Like cheating some money off me?" Soyo-hime joked casually with a smile.

"Uh..."

"Or maybe like asking Onii-sama to marry you?"

Okita raised a hand, and in a unfitting high voice, replied, "Sorry, Hime-sama. This guy—girl here ain't as straight as your pubic hair would like to be."

His face met with Kagura's fist within the next second

"THAT'S NO WAY TO TALK TO SOYO-CHAN YOU BASTARD, UH-HUH!"

"MIND YOUR LANGUAGE IN FRONT OF THE PRINCESS!" Maizou hollered, going red in the face.

The said Princess continued smiling demurely, only going "That's new" at Okita getting pummelled.

Hijikata's hand was inching closer and closer to his pack of cigarettes as his stress level climbed higher. They were pressed for time. It was not the moment to crack jokes while their Commander was held hostage by scums!

"Hime-sama! This matter concerns the lives of you and Shogun-sama, please hear us out!" Pachie slammed his cup of tea onto the table, leaning forward theatrically.

"Hmm? What is it?" Soyo grinned. _Secret mission indeed!_ She was rather undisturbed by the fact that her life was on the line. Her life had been hung on the line since forever.

"Its...its..." Shinpachi scrambled up, checking the corridor up and down, and the rooms beside Soyo's. After ensuring that not a single soul was in sight, Shinpachi sat back down.

Taking a deep breath, Shinpachi opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Tenko.

"Hime-sama, do you kn-ow who is Aikake?" The fake falsetto was killing Hijikata's throat.

"Uncle Aikake? He visits the castle very often and he always brings me gifts. He's very nice."

Hijikata and Shinpachi didn't know how to continue after hearing those words.

"Hime-sama...well...he's a bad person." Hijikata grimaced, trying to think of a good way to explain it to the young princess.

"Basically, he is working with Matsudaira and the Hitotsubashi families to push your dear brother off the 'throne' and take it for himself." Okita bluntly delivered.

"That's why we came here to warn Shogun-sama and you." Hijikata breathed a little. Sometimes Okita was really useful for this type of situations.

The three 'women' studied the Princess's face for her reaction.

Kagura took the chance and reached for another Nmaibo-boob stick, but was blocked by Okita.

Soyo beamed at them. A bright, sunny smile without a single shred of worry or shock.

"Ah! That! I heard rumours about it! Grampy told me to be careful lately too."

Kagura and Okita wrestled silently in the background.

"Hime-sama! How can these people be trusted! Who are you guys even? How do you people even know about this?!" Maizou hurried foward.

"Don't worry, Gram-pee, they can be trusted. Kagura-chan's friends are my friends!"

"Grandpa, our source comes directly from inside the castle, its reliable. We cannot expose our identities as of now due to certain circumstances, but please trust us." Sincerity was written all over Shinpachi's face.

 _Your identities were exposed by me long ago!_ Soyo laughed suddenly, bewildering the rest of the people.

"Evict them out right this second, Hime-sama! They will bring terrible danger to you if they stay any longer!"

"We know how to stop Aikake. Please let us meet the Shogun."

"Atrocious! Out! Get out!"

"I am not very well-versed in the matters of the bakufu, but I can arrange for you guys to meet my brother if you want."

"Hime-sama! Shogun-sama does not have the time to meet these suspicious commoners!"

Soyo dutifully ignored the protests of Maizou. Gathering her kimono up, she proceeded towards the doorway. "Onii-sama* must be finishing dinner by now, follow me."

They followed behind Soyo-hime, Kagura chatting with Soyo animatedly at the front while Maizou tried to convince the Princess to change her mind.

Shinpachi started another round of whisper-conversation, as he gauged the size of Okita's boobs. He couldn't help but notice it became smaller, and crumbs of Nmaibo were falling out with each step Okita took.

"Ne, Hijikata-san, wouldn't it be better if we just told Hime-sama who we really are? We wouldn't face as much problems as of now." Shinpachi drew his twitching eyes away from Okita's chest.

"Don't you know about Shinsengumi's undercover rules? One, you do not talk about Shinsengumi. Two, you do not talk about Shinsengumi. Three. You do not talk about Shinsengumi." Okita lifted up his fingers, counting them down.

"Okita-san! That's—"

"This disguise covers our tracks as well. Aikake will have a harder time finding out what we are doing. He must have some of his men spying on every move of the Shinsengumi." Hijikata whispered back. "We cannot expose ourselves before we get Kondo-san out safe and sound."

"We have reached." Soyo halted in her tracks, looking back to the 3 crossdressers. Servants appeared out of thin air, collecting the katanas from Okita and Hijikata. No weapons were allowed in a meeting with the Shogun, after all, in the political world, they can't take any chances.

Soyo knocked on the shoji of her brother's room.

"Onii-sama! Are you free now? I have some friends that I want to introduce to you."

"Come in." The familiar soothing voice floated through the sliding doors.

Soyo opened the doors to find another guest having tea with her brother.

The faces of the three men blanched when they caught sight of the white Mimawarigumi uniform, and boxes of Pon de Rings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *onii-sama = big brother (I'm sure you guys know this but just wanted to clarify since some people mix up onii and onee)
> 
> Onee-sama is big sister


	22. Elite of The Elite

Nobume turned to face the newcomers, munching delightfully on a strawberry doughnut.

"W-why is Nobume-san here?" Shinpachi whispered frantically to the two Shinsengumi men.

The Vice-Commander of the Mimawarigumi nodded slightly at the guests in acknowledgment, then promptly ignored them as she focused on her third box of Pon de Rings.

"Welcome to the castle. How do you find your stay?" Tokugawa Shigeshige smiled gently at his guests.

They were introduced to each other and sat down for another round of tea and snacks.

"This is Imai-san who has been ordered to stand guard over me." Shigeshige explained. Nobume finished off her last Pon de Ring and retreated to a corner, leaning against the wall.

Before Kagura dug in once more into the delectable snacks, Soyo stopped her by reminding her dinner was going to be served any time soon.

"Ue-sama**—" Hijikata cleared his throat with the shrill voice, looking off to the numerous servants standing around the room.

Everyone's puzzlement showed clearly on their faces.

"Onii-sama, it's important." Soyo-hime hinted with a serious look on her face (which was barely held together by Soyo's strong will).

Muted 'Ah's and 'Oh's travelled across the room as the servants understood.

Anyone with a smattering of knowledge of any politics knew that look. The look of —"Please clear the room of irrelevant people as the matter I'm about to speak about is highly confidential"— was clearly being communicated by Hijikata.

Other servants bowed to the Shogun, quickly retreating out of the room. Knowing less is for the best. Keeps the sharp glinting blades out of their vulnerable necks.

Maizou scoffed slightly at Hijikata's gesture. What could this blue-eyed fishy woman know about the Bakufu's internal affairs? He though, made no move to exit the room. He had served two courts as an advisor and now a retainer. Nothing could be hidden from him.

Shigeshige glanced back at Nobume, but the Vice-Commander made a casual move to grab the hilt of her katana. She obviously wasn't going to budge an inch from her cozy spot. Being a trained assassin from young, who the hell were those Shinsengumi bastards and that glasses guy from Yorozuya trying to deceive? She saw through those disguises the moment they stepped in. Those disguises were good enough to hoodwink others, but not people who are close to them. Nobume was quite sure that Soyo-hime had already seen through it, so all that was left were those two: masochistic pervertic old grandpa and that softhearted Shogun.

"You can speak about anything with Imai-san here. She is a trusted aide of mine." Shigeshige assured Tenko firmly. Hijikata hesitated, but started speaking after another glance at Nobume.

"Ue-sama, we are messengers for Pops-uh-Matsudaira-sama. He has told us to pass an important message to you."

"Lord Matsudaira? Oh my. Has the batch of tighty-whities shipment gotten delayed again?"

"Shogun-sama! Your underwear is imported from overseas?!" Shinpachi spat his tea out, spewing it all over the Great 14th Shogun.

Soyo-hime couldn't help but interject, "Of course, Onii-sama uses the best! Calvin Klein! Made in China!"

"Oh, China? I didn't know you produced tighty-whities. You're not that useless after all." Okita teased. Kagura growled then pounced on him, engaging in another round of soundless scuffle.

"Hime-sama! A Princess should not talk about undergarments in front of the Shogun and other guests! Manners, Hime-sama!" Maizou berated.

The Great Shogun did not bat a single eyelid as he wiped his face down from Shinpachi's saliva mixed with tea. "If it's not about the shipment, " Shigeshige's face darkened a little. "What does he have to tell me then?" He could make a guess from the few rumours spreading around his court lately.

"Ue-sama, do you perhaps know of the alliance **_betwe-en_** the Aikake, Hitotsubashi and Matsudaira alliance?" Hijikata's voice cracked. Okita and Kagura sniggered simultaneously.

"Bitch, are you copying me? We clearly should not have the same sense of humour, considering that yours is buried under your stupidity."

"You're the one who copied me, aru!" And then the two opposites clashed in a shower of sparks.

"The rumours have been true then. Yes, I do know of it." Shigeshige ignored the crack in the voice of Hijikata's. The constant fighting at the back of the room reminded him certain Captain of the Shinsegumi who was like the ignition to the Kagura-bomb.

Hijikata relayed information on the whole situation, picking only the essence while excluding Rae and the whole other situation happening at Aikake's estate. Shigeshige listened, creases of worry appearing between his brows.

" —I can say with much certainty that most of the other factions are supporting them as well." Hijikata finished.

The Shogun sighed, disappointment weighing down his tone. "I never thought that the situation would be this grave. It is my fault for not governing my court well. Declining the _roju_ position to Aikake will indeed be a difficult task."

"That's despicable!" Soyo huffed, anger ballooning up inside her. "I kind of knew Uncle Aikake was bad but he's just outright beastly!

"How is Lord Matsudaira's family and Kondo-san holding up?" Those two were his best friends and the most reliable subordinates a Shogun could have.

"As far as I know, as long as the Shinsengumi doesn't make any obvious movements, Kondo-san will be able to keep his head. Matsudaira-sama's family is not in any imminent danger."

"Sho-chan, you're the Shogun right, aru? Declining him the position isn't hard at all! Just fire them all! Or one word —'No' —will do it-aru!" Kagura said, slapping her palm onto the table. The loud smack and clinking of ceramics accentuated her vehement rejection.

"You're so naive, China-chan, if politics could be as disgustingly candid and direct as you, we would have achieved world peace already." Okita still couldn't bring himself to address Kagura by her name even in disguise. Kagura shivered in disgust at Okita's sugary sweet voice (laced with poison) calling her 'China-chan'.

"Souko-san is correct. It's not something that one word can easily dispel. Considering that the whole—if not most of my court has betrayed me. If I reject their petition, I'll be putting myself at an even more disadvantaged position. It will only increase their displeasure towards me. We are trying to stop the conspiracy, not promote it." Shigeshige explained patiently.

Kagura wasn't taking any of that. She went off on a rant about "those selfish fat old men who just exploit commoners of their rights", while the Shogun just smiled helplessly.

"My uncle and I have actually anticipated this day to come. Please do not worry, my fellow comrades. I will discuss it with my uncle tomorrow after my court has presented the petition. It is rather late now. I would love to have all of you stay overnight at the castle."

Hijikata sighed dejectedly. Court scheming was not his best forte. He almost succumbed to his habit of running his hand through his hair whenever he was frustrated, but he stopped his hand before it ruined his wig. They couldn't do anything now no matter how long the discussion continued. They could only wait until tommorow.

Staying overnight at the castle would allow them to obtain news quicker. Hijikata graciously accepted the Shogun's offer.

"Soyo, prepare the best rooms for them."

Soyo-hime took the subtle dismissal and stood up, her elaborate kimono still creaseless. "Please follow me." The guests excused themselves and took their leave.

Nobume waited until the door slid shut, then turned to face the Shogun, her eyes drilling into his profile inquisitively.

"Yes, I know, Imai-san." Shigeshige broke into a smile.

Satisfied, Nobume turned back to stare at the decorative gold swirls lining the wall, contemplating on what flavours of donuts she should get for tomorrow's breakfast.

* * *

Soyo brought them to the dining hall to have their late dinner, where the only ones enjoying it were Kagura and Shinpachi.

"Lobster! Mm...I haven't eaten...meat...in...months..." Kagura mumbled through a full mouth, spraying a little bit of lobster meat across the table. Okita and Hijikata watched the two fill themselves up with the delicacies of the buffet. They didn't have much of an appetite when they were worried about their own Commander.

Shinpachi stuffed food into his mouth as he stuffed even more food into the tupperwares he brought.

"Do you bring those containers everywhere?!" Hijikata exclaimed as the stack of tupperwares climbed higher, each one packed with so much food that the plastic was stretching.

Shinpachi didn't stop chewing as he answered, the speed of his hands picking off the food from the plates increasing to a blur. "Gin-san...doesn't feed us...much...so...we have...to take...every chance we...get..."

Speaking of that Yorozuya bastard, they haven't gotten any update on the situation over at Aikake's. Hijikata glanced at the two kids inhaling all the food. "Are you two not worried about that silver bastard?"

The two kids paused midway in their chewing. Then they resumed back in full speed.

"There is no need to worry about Gin-san, he'll always come back. And he'll save Rae-san and Saitou-san."

"It's better if Gin-chan dies over there, aru! His insurance fees will pay my salary for all these years of hard labour I did for him!"

 _Ruthless_... Hijikata sweatdropped.

Soyo-hime who had left the dining hall to prepare the rooms for them returned with an apologetic look on her face.

"What's...wrong...Soyo-chan?" Kagura spoke through a full mouth.

Maizou grimaced at the lack of manners Kagura displayed, but the Princess did not care for appearances. Soyo-hime twiddled her thumbs, her acting skills in full blast. She was yodelling at her own genius idea in her inner mind.

"Kagura-chan...you can't sleep with me tonight...I have caught a cold..." Soyo-chan coughed a few times to make her act more convincing. "You'll have to sleep with your other friends tonight...I can't pass the sickness on to you...I have prepared two rooms." Soyo almost grinned halfway through her sentence.

The dubious looks on the four 'women' made Soyo throw more effort into her acting. Soyo put a hand to her forehead, fanning herself and trying to look faint. "Oh dear, this is really bad. I'm so sorry, Kagura-chan...and you came here specifically too...I curse my own immunity..." Soyo subtly winked at Maizou standing right beside.

Maizou was totally lost at what the Princess was trying to accomplish, but he played along anyways. "That's right! Our Princess has been a fragile leaf since she was born! Her precious body must be taken care of! She can't afford to get any disturbance from you rowdy girls!"

With Maizou playing along, three among the four started to believe her lie. Okita of course, narrowed his eyes at the suspicious sickness that suddenly overcame the Princess. Okita decided to let it go instead of confronting the Princess.

"Hime-sama, be sure to take good care of your body! Coming down with a cold in such a short amount of time definitely means that your immunity is really weak!" Shinpachi nagged like a mother as he looked upon the (fake) coughing form of Soyo.

"Soyo-chan! Rest well! Don't feel bad, I still can have sleepovers with you next time!"

Soyo offered Kaguara a (fake) sickly smile, and told them that clothes and baths have been prepared. After they are done washing up, servants will bring them to the designated rooms. Soyo finished informing them and excused herself to her room right after.

Four servants were left behind by Soyo to serve each of the guests.

Shinpachi went off first, balancing the tower-high stack of tupperwares. A servant strode up and offered to help him carry.

Hijikata and Okita left together next, their servants hurrying after them, leaving Kagura alone in the dining hall to polish off the remaining food on the buffet plates.

* * *

"Ah, that was a nice bath." Shinpachi squeezed water out of his braids, stepping out of the bathroom.

The servant bowed politely, and guided Shinpachi to his room.

"Oh? It's you, Glasses?" Hijikata looked up to see Shinpachi at the door. "I thought it would be Soug—Souko-chan."

Shinpachi eyed the sound alarm trap Hijikata was setting up to alert him of the killing attempts of Okita. Shinpachi laughed drily.

"Ah, Hime-sama prepared two rooms right? If I'm sharing with you then—"

Earth-shattering horror descended upon them.

The servants retreated quietly, sliding the shoji shut.

* * *

Soyo-hime the genius Princess muffled her laughter into her pillow in the safety of her room.

She was just giving those two a little push...right? After all, who doesn't ship them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN * WINK WINK WINK*
> 
> Ue-sama: Used to address a person of higher rank than you, its what Hijikata calls the Shogun in the anime.


	23. One Shitty Night

This was not the night Okita imagined to have.

Neither was it the night Kagura thought she would have.

The two stared at each other. Kagura was gripping the shoji with more strength than what was needed.

**_Plop!_ **

A single droplet of water fell to the tatami-covered floor from Kagura's wet hair.

At the same time, the two flew at each other, sword and umbrella drawn.

The servants made a hasty retreat out of their range and out of the room.

"WHY ARE YOU IN MY ROOM YOU DO-S FUCKTARD-ARU!"

"I should be asking you that question. Where is Hijikata-san?"

The two clashed and rebounded back.

"I'm going to ask for a change, aru! I won't stay in the same room as you, aru!" Kagura threw the door opened and came face to face with the servant that guided her earlier.

"Hime-sama is unwell at the moment and no visitors will be allowed."

Kagura screamed in frustration, slamming the door shut again. She grabbed a pillow off a futon and beat it senseless. Feathers exploded out of the pillow, covering the room in a blanket of white.

"Hitting the pillow senseless doesn't do shit. It's already senseless." Okita blandly said.

"SHUT UP-ARU!" Kagura threw the abused pillow at Okita who dodged with no effort. "I don't care! I'm going to change rooms-aru!"

Kagura almost ripped the door in half this time as she flung it open.

She came face to face with not one, not two, but 20 servants by the doorway.

"Hime-sama has forbidden anyone to visit until she recovers." The twenty servants chorused in unison.

The door was shredded into pieces of wood and paper. Kagura wanted to give the servants a good beating and burst into Soyo's room, but hurting the servants of the castle would make Soyo-chan sad.

Kagura seethed, her umbrella pointed threateningly at the kneeling, polite servants. "Move-aru."

The servants continued to repeat the order given to them defiantly.

"There's no use, China. They won't move."

 _That brat...she found out our identities already, huh?_ Okita sneered. _We were set up by that brat._ Well he wasn't trying to hide his identity with much effort after all.

"Back to the most important problem here, China." Okita snapped his fingers, attracting Kagura's attention to the futon on the floor. "There's only one futon."

And the one pillow that had already lost all its feathers after getting slugged by Kagura's brute strength.

Kagura went silent as she gazed at the deflated pillow.

Before Kagura could demand for another futon, the servants gave their reply, "The rest of the futons are being washed, there was only one futon left. Sorry for the inconvenience caused."

Dark shadows made themselves home on the faces of Okita and Kagura. It was such an obvious lie by the servants, but they could do nothing about it. Nor could they do anything about the metal shoji door that was currently being replaced into the gaping hole by the carpenters tinkering away.

The metal door was successfully replaced and it slid shut.

"THE FUTON IS MINE!"

Okita and Kagura yelled unanimously, flying at each other in a deadly dance of blades and umbrellas.

"You can sleep on the floor, China-bitch! Fitting for a illegal immigrant like you!"

"Haven't you heard of 'Ladies first'?! You're a disgusting sadist, obviously I'm the one who should be getting the futon!"

The two engaged each other, the room holding together from the shockwave of their blows pretty well.

"Lady? Aren't you a brainless, no sex-appeal pig?"

"I DARE YOU TO SAY THAT AGAIN-ARU! YOU LOOK LIKE A BEANPOLE! EVEN SHO-CHAN HAS MORE MUSCLES THAN YOU-ARU!"

Okita and Kagura separated, panting. Without warning, Okita rushed towards the futon, pulling it towards him as he kicked the sad-looking pillow over to Kagura.

"This is what a pig gets."

"You bastard!" Kagura flipped her middle finger at the smug face of Okita's and jumped into the air, aiming a high kick at his face.

"Excuse me."

A whispered voice from the room outside caught the fighting duo's attention.

"Lord Sadasada complained of noise coming from below his room, please keep your volume down." A servant was speaking through the flap—a flap big enough to see the face of the nervous servant— in the metal door. "Please let me do my job, or else my head will come rolling off, dear guests!"

"Who the hell is—" Kagura started, but was cut off by Okita speaking over her.

"Got it. We won't make any more noise. You may go."

"The hell?! How are we supposed to fight without sound-aru?!" Kagura burst out.

"Easy. We don't fight. Now sleep."

"Don't joke with me you sadist. I'm not sleeping here with you-aru! Who knows what you will do to such an innocent girl like me-aru?!"

Okita replied by pointing to the sunken pillow. "If we continue to make any more noise, we are the ones whose heads will be rolling and having fun about on the floor. China. Do you even know who is Lord Sadasada?"

"Some fat old man right-aru?"

"The previous Shogun and advisor of the current Shogun. Tokugawa Sadasada." Okita clicked his tongue. "You came here so many times to play with the Princess and yet you don't know who is Lord Sadasada? Tsktsktsk, brainless pig."

"Shut your fat mouth-aru."

"You mean my seductively full lips."

Kagura didn't reply as she staged a surprise attack to snatch the futon and blanket away from Okita.

"Nuh-uh. You only get the pillow." Okita picked up the blanket and futon with him, moving further away from the angry Yato.

Kagura was barely restraining her outburst as she punched and kicked silently at Okita.

After a few more rounds of silent fighting, the two were sprawled out on the floor, catching their breaths from the intensely silent workout. Okita relaxed his hold on the futon a little, eyes glinting in candlelight illuminating the room.

Kagura sprang for the futon suddenly, but she was caught by Okita by the neck. "Hah. A stupid rabbit jumped right into my trap." Okita squeezed her neck tighter as she struggled in his hold.

Kagura's eyes rolled back into her head and she went limp.

"Oi China. China!" Okita released his hold on her neck, putting her down not-so-gently onto the floor. "Fuck, Danna will kill me—"

Kagura's crystal blue eyes snapped open, and she grinned maliciously as she twisted her body expertly, trapping Okita in a unbreakable hold. "Hah! Who's the stupid rabbit now-aru?"

"Your boobs are as hard and flat as a board." Okita's muffled voice sounded somewhere as his face was squashed in front of Kagura's chest, as her fingers tangled into his long wig.

Kagura wasn't any normal lady. She pushed the back of Okita's head harder into her "hard and flat" chest, laughing obnoxiously (but quietly), "How would you like your head to be squashed on this board-aru?"

Okita's head was about to burst from the pressure, but his strangled voice came through once more, "If you keep smashing my head against your non-existent boobs, your boob growth will be stunted."

A serpentine smile stretched across Kagura's face. "I'll sacrifice my boobs to kill you-aru."

Okita was suffocating. He had an idea to get rid of the stubborn pig, but that would involve something that he didn't like. Kagura increased the pressure on his head.

 _Screw it._ Okita trailed his barefeet up the exposed leg of Kagura, surprising both her and himself.

They were both clothed in the provided sleepwear, a loose yukata instead of a usual jinbei**. The folds of Kagura's yukata were wide open from all the thrashing and fighting they were engaged in, exposing her legs.

 _Fuck_. It was softer and smoother than Okita ever imagined. All those fighting they did had let him feel her skin in those blows, but never so close and intimate.

Kagura shivered at his touch, the trail of skin that Okita had dragged his odious feet across was not burning her up with desire like heroines in those romance stories do. She was burning up with something else.

" ** _MOTHERFUCKER_**!" Rage consumed her mind and her accent even disappeared under the growing flames of her anger. She was violated by this grotesque beanpole, she was tainted with—

"Keep quiet!" Okita escaped from her immobilising hold, slapping a palm across her mouth.

Kagura somehow caught a piece of his flesh from his palm and bit down, hard and unyielding.

"AA-aaaa! Let go!" Okita yelped in agony as he felt his flesh getting pulled from the rest of his palm.

"Excuse me!"

"WHAT?!" Both Okita and Kagura whirled around to find the same servant again, peeping through the metal flap, his face pale and shaking with terror.

"Please...please try..try to keep...Lord Sadasada is very very irritated..."

"Tell that old man to go stuff his ears with money-aru!"

Kagura's punch only made it halfway to the servant's face before Okita pulled her hand back, swiftly taping her up with his specially custom made duct tape. The servant squealed in terror as he watched the Prince of Sadists tie the red-headed alien into a extremely compromising position. He scrambled back and was gone in a jiffy.

"MMMMMFF! MMFF!" Translation: YOU ASSHOLE! WHERE THE FUCK DID THE TAPE COME FROM-ARU!?

"Special duct tape just for you. Cost me a whole month of my salary. You better be grateful, China." The sadist smile was back in full force.

Kagura cursed at Okita with all her might, thrashing around and trying to land a blow on his annoying smug face. She hated her position. She was exposed to her enemy (not literally you dirty minds), and her battle instincts screamed at her to get out of the jeopardising position right away. Kagura put all her monstrous strength into tearing the duct tape, but the tape held together.

Okita grinned at the sight of his dear frenemy all vulnerably taped up, and then he strung the feisty Yato up on the ceiling with some rope no one knew where he got it from. Dragging the futon over right under the hanging Kagura, he settled down comfortably, his amazing view of the ceiling consisting of the corybantic face of Kagura.

"Good night."

"MMMMMF! fffMm!"

 _You think you can get a good night sleep with me around?! Dead wrong, you bastard._ Kagura damned Okita in her mind, lasers of hate shooting out of her blue eyes.

The sadist below was enjoying the stifled yells of Kagura above, and relaxed futher. Minutes ticked by and Kagura patiently waited until Okita had fallen asleep, his breathing steady.

Revenge lit up Kagura's eyes as she forced her weight down, the rope tying her to the ceiling straining. With a low grunt, she pressed down further, the taut rope leaving bruises on her snow white skin. _Yes! Just a little more!_

The rope frayed, and snapped.

Kagura came crashing down on the sleeping Okita like a ten ton weight, knocking out all the air from Okita's lungs. The wooden floor of their room creaked ominously, cracks and splinters forming a spider's web from the area of impact.

" ** _Guh_** —Chinaaa!" Okita whisper-yelled, still not regaining enough of his breath for a shout.

Okita could see the adder's smile Kagura was giving him behind the duct tape. Enraged, he grabbed the girl laying on top of him, and switched their positions.

Sky blue orbs widened as her body hit the soft futon, Okita propping himself up on his arms as he trapped Kagura underneath him.

_Shit. Fuck. Shit. Get out get out—_

Kagura wriggled uselessly, the only thoughts she was able to form was swear words.

"Oh? Is the little pig afraid?" Okita dropped down closer to Kagura on his elbows in one sudden movement. They were so close, only a tiny breath of air separated the skin of Kagura's pert nose from Okita's. The long-haired wig Okita was wearing swept down, forming a curtain of hair and separating the both of them from the outside world.

Snakes of hatred crawled out from the depths of her eyes, slithering and sliding—wrapping themselves around Okita's neck; some constricting at his neck, doing their best to choke him. Others took phantom bites out of Okita's pretty face.

" ** _Mmf_**!"

"Hm? What's that? You want me to come closer?" Okita moved—closing in—but still leaving an impossibly tiny distance between them. His breath fluttered across Kagura's face. She blinked, her bright blue eyes larger than before.

_That bastard! He's enjoying this—this...thing! How dare he!_

Kagura gave another muffled curse, but not daring to move a single muscle. They were too close for comfort. Just a little twitch and they would have contact—urgh. It was too horrifying to even think about it. The irritating annoying sadistic fucker blew on her face, making Kagura blink from the air assaulting her sensitive eyes.

"Dear China, listen closely. We will now sleep. We have a long day ahead of us. If that servant comes down for the third time I can guarantee our necks will be spurting blood. No more fighting, no more sneak attacks. I get the futon. You get the blanket. It's the most compromise I will make." Okita eyed her, not bothered by their close proximity at all. "If you don't agree," Okita's line of sight drifted down to somewhere, leaning in to whisper in Kagura's ears—"I can't promise what I'll do to you..."

Kagura froze.

Thick tension filled the air.

Kagura remembered the bastard dragging his filthy feet up against her leg. She suppressed a shiver of disgust. There would be no telling what the jerk would do next.

"Blink twice if you agree." Kagura blinked.

"No screaming when I remove the tape—or else I'll tape you back up again." Okita smirked and before Kagura could even process his words, he pulled the tape off her mouth. Violently.

The stinging burn from the tape brought tears to Kagura's eyes.

Okita snickered and without a second warning he ripped the rest of the tape off. Kagura hadn't even realised that most of the tape had gotten on to her skin — the loose yukata was to blame—and spat vulgar words as she curled up from the pain.

"Son of a bitch...I'll get my revenge..." Kagura rasped.

"Sleep." The blanket was thrown over Kagura's form.

Kagura wanted to smother Okita with the blanket but thought twice as his threat echoed around in her mind. She shut her mouth wisely and grabbed the blanket, rolling up herself into a Kagura-taco.

Both picked the opposite ends of the room.

_No one puts down the Queen of Kabukicho like this. I'll butcher him—_

Kagura fell into a deep slumber as she planned on her revenge, dreaming about castrating the First Captain of the Shinsengumi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *jinbei: Its a traditional sleepwear, not the fishman from One Piece :D
> 
> This Okikagu moment wasn't all that exciting hmmmmmmm
> 
> Probably because they aren't ripping each others' clothes off and fucking each other like rabbits.
> 
> HAHAH jkjk, remember that they are rivals, even if they have feelings for each other, it'll probably take a decade for them to admit it—or even realise it. I had fun writing this chapter though :) small steps...baby steps...


	24. Chapter 24

Gintoki and the rest fought through the estate manor, checking each room for any sign of Rae.

Gintoki booted a guard off him, and Tsukuyo immobilized the guard with a few flicks of her wrist. Katsura was at the lower levels of the manor, destroying as many valuables as he could. He had cursed at the sheer number of guards the manor had, valiantly offering himself and the Joui patriots to keep the main force of the guards busy.

They had searched half of the manor but had not found even a trace of where Rae was. The battle was dragging longer and they had to finish everything quick—before Morning Court convened.

Impatient, Gintoki stuck his bokuto between the legs of a trembling guard. " ** _Where. Is. She_**?" Shiroyasha indeed. The demon himself pointing his sword at your family jewels was enough to get the guard's mouth moving.

The guard pointed a shaky finger to the end of a corridor, where a nondescript door concealed the person they were trying to find. "T-there..." The first guard to betray their master's commands, and judging by the rest of the guards glaring at him, he would have a grand exit— to six feet under ground.

In unison, Tsukuyo and Gintoki sliced through the rest of the guard barrier, and Gintoki took the pleasure of kicking down the door.

Blood.

Red and the darkening brown of blood splattered all over the room, so thick that they could not even discern the original colour of the paint under it.

The metallic tang of it reeked, stuffing itself down the nose of Gintoki and Tsukuyo. Warning sirens blasted in the two's head— something **_brutal_** had happened in the room. Both of them noted the instruments of torture neatly placed at the side, the barbed whip especially eye catching with morsels of flesh sticking on it.

"Such impeccable manners." A sarcastic voice sounded, drawing their attention away from the ugly sight of the whip. It was velvety, smooth as the black of the night. A voice that would make any woman's ovaries explode with its enriching thickness. But layered underneath the seductive voice was cold, cruel steel—suggesting that the man before them was not as gentlemanly as he seemed.

Aikake stood at the front of the bed, hands behind his back in the posture of a relaxed noble. Gintoki disliked him immediately. He reminded him of a snake, vile little shits they were.

"Ah. Forgive me, I'm not well versed in the manners of pompous pricks like you." Gintoki gave Aikake a brash smile.

"We didn't come here to have tea and chat with you. Where is Rae?" Tsukuyo stepped up front, her sharp kunais emitting a silent threat.

Aikake still had his smile on as claws sprang from the leather bands on his fingers—the Nekote**. Gintoki's eyes narrowed when the man turned— ** _turned his back to his enemies_** —and walked to the side of the bed. How confident was that man to leave his back open?

The sorry sight of their friend showed itself as Aikake moved away to give them a clearer view.

Rae, bound and clothes tattered, lay unconscious in bed. Tsukuyo clamped down so hard on her disgust she choked on it. She could feel the anger radiating off the male standing beside her.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" Aikake purred, running his clawed hands down Rae's body shamelessly. The sheer possession in that touch made Gintoki gag on it. Bruises lined her body where Aikake had handled her roughly. A claw nicked Rae's pale skin, ruby red blood welling out of the cut. "She still provides a great fuck when unconscious."

Rage bubbled up in Gintoki, but before he could kill the bastard himself, Tsukuyo surged foward, her violet eyes flashing with fury. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT!" A flurry of kunais targeted the neck of Aikake, but he deflected them expertly with a single swipe. "You **_disgusting_** fucker! She is not yours!"

No one was to be treated this way, to be violated, not even the courtesans in Yoshiwara. Whenever one of the courtesans in Yoshiwara was raped, Tsukuyo ensured that the violaters enjoyed a slow, painful death. She had seen those courtesans weep, washing themselves over and over, as if they were trying to get rid of the invisible marks the hands of those men had left imprinted on their bodies. Revulsion climbed up her throat, pushing her to move, throw and aim faster. Each kunai was thrown in succession without pause, getting harder to follow with human eyes each time it surged towards its target.

To his credit, Aikake dodged every single one of them, even in the confined space of the room. Gintoki did not interfere with Tsukuyo's battle. He knew she would turn on him instead if he did. He respected her battles.

Gintoki gripped his bokuto till his knuckles were white, whirling around to fend off the rest of the guards dashing towards them; whilst keeping an eye on Tsukuyo.

"She is mine, Shinigami Tayuu. You are mistaken. And I do not like it when my things disobey my orders, and bring such trouble for me." Ice clinked in his tone, the 'welcoming' smile fading. "I can guarantee she will be getting much more of her punishment when I'm finished dealing with you."

Things. Tsukuyo caught on to the word. _Things_.

This time, it was Gintoki who charged at Aikake, his bokuto barelling down on Aikake in a deadly slash. "Rae. Is not your **_thing_**."

Amusement coloured Aikake's face, "Arara, how many times do I have to repeat? Simple logic, my friend, simple logic. When you buy an item," Aikake activated a mechanism in his nekote, poison flowing down from hidden compartments to drip off the gleaming long claws, "it is yours, isn't it?"

The drop of poison hit the floor, smoke spiraling upwards as it melted the wooden floorboard.

Aikake swiped for Gintoki's eyes, the poison droplets launching into the air. Just like how any main character can do, Gintoki blocked Aikake's move and avoided the poison at the same time.

"Not bad, for a dumbass Daimyo like you to have trained to such an extent." Gintoki grinned, "But you're still too lacking in experience when you sit around on your ass all day playing high lord!"

Before Gintoki finished his sentence, he stepped towards Aikake, thrusting his sword at an unprotected spot. The bokuto drove itself home through the side of Aikake, pushing him back to the wall.

 _No. It didn't hit him._ Gintoki's eyes widened. Aikake had turned his body at the very last second, causing the bokuto to graze his skin and impale his long white coat instead.

"Its because I have time to sit around on my ass that I train." Aikake dropped his smile entirely, his face dark and cold. He flinged out his hands again, narrowly missing Gintoki's chest as the silver samurai sprung back.

Tsukuyo, angry as she might be, was still thinking clearly and seized the chance to cut off the ropes binding Rae to the bed.

"Rae!" Tsukuyo shook the unconcious woman. "Rae!"

Guards flooded the corridor—yelling for their master— as Tsukuyo turned to deal with the annoying guards.

Aikake rushed towards the open back of Tsukuyo, but was stopped by a wooden sword. The poison slid off the wood harmlessly, dripping onto the floor where its corrosive powers worked. "Interesting." Aikake rose an eyebrow.

"Obviously, this sword cost me $11,760!" ( **A/N: it was written on the TV commercial** )

"Rae cost me 3 million."

"Are you trying to show off your riches to me? That won't work you know, the amount of rent I have accumulated is equal to the amount I have spent!" The swish of the bokuto cleaving the air shaved off a few strands of Aikake's dark hair.

"Apparently all the money went to your hair." Poison droplets was lobbed towards the rainbow-glitter natural perm, but the unaffected bokuto deflected the droplets back to Aikake, one of them catching onto the sleeve of his coat. The smell of cloth burning filled the space between them.

"Shut the fuck up."

Distaste curled around Gintoki's lips, as he parried Aikake's attack.

"AIKAKE-SAMA!" The guards chorused for their master, "PROTECT AIKAKE-SAMA!"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!" Tsukuyo roared. They were getting on her nerves. The guards squeaked as they evaded the storm of kunai whizzing towards them.

Aikake was no match for a war veteran like Gintoki. A grunt escaped him as Gintoki's bokuto slashed down on his thigh. Too quick for his pain-addled mind to respond, another slash barrelled down on his chest. Aikake spit out blood, pressing his palm against the wound.

The guards went fucking crazy when they saw it. "AIKAKE-SAMAAA! KILL THE INTRUDERS! AIKAKE-SAMAAA!"

Tsukuyo was pushed back by the horde of frenzy fanboys (guards) trying to reach their idol (Aikake), but they were still too late. Gintoki raised his bokuto into the air—

"GINTOKI! HE'S MINE!"

Katsura appeared, calling dibs on Aikake. "I WANT TO FINISH HIM OFF!" He flew over the squirming mass of guards, using their heads as stepping stones. Gintoki turned to his long-haired friend, irritation emanating from him.

"DOES IT FUCKING MATTER?!"

"YES! IT DOES!"

"Just kill him already!" Tsukuyo butted in.

"Not yet, Gintoki! We have to keep him alive actually! Have you thought of that you'll be making a majority of the Bakufu your enemy by killing him?! You won't be able to live in Edo anymore!"

"I'LL JUST SAY YOU DID IT!" Gintoki spat. He couldn't care less if the whole of Edo was after him.

"THAT'S THE PROBLEM! EVEN THOUGH THE CREDIT GOES TO ME, I WANT TO DO IT PERSONALLY!" It was the dream of a terrorist to be able to take down an important member of the Bakufu.

" I'LL GIVE YOU 300 YEN SO JUST KILL HIM NOW!" Tsukuyo unleashed another flurry of her unlimited kunais; she was impeded by the guards or else she would have finished Aikake off already.

Gintoki brought down his sword, only to find empty space where Aikake was just moments before.

Katsura landed beside Gintoki, having bashed in the heads of most of the guards with his foot. The Jouishishi caught up to their leader, and engaged the rest of the guards in a fight.

The three lined up, gazing silently at the spot.

"Look what you did, Zura."

"Zura ja nai, Katsura da! You didn't pay attention to him!"

"He escaped out the window." Tsukuyo looked pointedly at the open window.

Katsura rushed over, leaning out to check if the Daimyo was still there. "He's gone! Sadly, there's no dead body at the ground below."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he had escaped through some trapdoor secret passageway shit. His house is full of them." Gintoki took off his kimono and draped it over the half-naked Rae. "Now we just have to find that other afro guy."

* * *

Gintoki was spot on. Aikake indeed had secret passageways and contraptions installed all over his house. Even the exterior walls had them. He wasn't Aikake Kagai if he did not have these basic safety precautions laying all around his manor.

Outside Rae's window, a few steps away from the ledge, was a secret passageway that joined a larger tunnel that branched off in different directions, each leading to a different room in the huge manor. Aikake searched the blueprints he had memorized in his head, picking out the route which leads to a room closest to his own. Anyone with a snippet of intelligence in their head wouldn't build a direct route to their bedroom; they were basically inviting anyone who discovered the secret passageways to kill them. Of course, Aikake had eliminated the carpenter Mokichi ( **A/N: who the hell is Mokichi?**!) who designed his manor, immediately after it was built. No one could get ahold of the blueprints except for Aikake himself.

Escaping was not in his dictionary either. He had never escaped from any situation until now—he knew he wouldn't be able to keep his life if he continued to dilly dally in front of that samurai's bokuto. His life was the priority now, he could get his vengeance later.

Aikake cackled in the dark tunnel to himself, supporting his weak body with his hand on the wall as he shuffled down the secret passage.

* * *

"Leave. Find the Shinsengumi Captain and leave."

"Goddamn it, we came all the way here for you—breaking possibly all the laws of this country—and now you tell us to leave you here?! Impossible." Gintoki looked at Rae exasperatedly. This woman was not grateful at all. His hair was dragged into all this mess for her, poor innocent hair...

"I-I can't leave with you guys—"

"Why? Because you're afraid of that pussy Aikake?" Rae looked up at the glitter samurai, shaking her head. She was afraid of what Aikake would do, not the bastard himself.

"Rae! You're coming with us!" Tsukuyo exclaimed as she finished off the last of the guards, heaving. The mountain of unconscious bodies piled up along the corridor, a few of the Jouishishi members entangled inside as well. Katsura was pulling them out, his sandaled foot bracing against the generous derrière of a guard, a hand clasped around the wrist of his Jouishishi member as he pulled and pulled. What came out in Katsura's hand was the arm of his Jouishishi member. Katsura shrieked in horror at what he had done, shoving the arm back onto the stump of the member's shoulder but to no avail.

"I told you, I can't!" Rae tried standing up, but her legs betrayed her and she wobbily sat down on the filthy bed again.

"Why."

"I..." Rae tried to force the words out of her mouth, the mere thought of those words becoming reality terrorized her. "I don't want...you guys...t-to..."

Gintoki and Tsukuyo waited patiently, but Rae sagged down onto the bed, trembling with fear as the image of Maiko and Yura; their broken, mutilated bodies; Maiko's screams for help still ringing in her head. She curled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them; trying to keep out the sickening memories—

"Rae. Who am I to you?" Gintoki stepped forward, crouching down to gaze at Rae's petrified expression. "Look at me. Tell me, who am I to you?"

Rae gasped for breath as she looked into Gintoki's soft eyes, her mind still whirling from the sight of the blood spraying throughout the room. His red eyes reminded her of the blood splattering against the wall; the colour running down and staining everything in its path a bright crimson. "Y-you're—"

"Friend. I am your friend. Tsukki is your friend, the idiot Zura over there is your friend. Shinpachi, Kagura, Sadaharu, Otose, Tama-chan, Hasegawa-san—forget about that old hag of a cat—they're all your friends." Gintoki held out his hand, opening up his palm for invitation. "Now, tell me, what do friends do?"

"They—" Rae whimpered, burying her head inside her arms. "They died. They all died because of me." Her voice cracked. " ** _I_** Killed them."

"You're wrong, they died **_for_** you." Gintoki rested a hand upon Rae's head. "It was of their own volition that they chose to die, for you."

"It's because I'm weak...I'm weak...I'm stupid. I thought if we e-escaped...we would be free...everyone would be happy...I screwed everything up...it's all because of me—" Rae jerked at Gintoki's fingers lightly pulling her head up. "Leave. I don't want anyone... else to get h-hurt because of me..."

"Your friends died for you," Gintoki noted Rae flinching at the mention of her friends, "because they believed in you. They chose to let you continue living, to live a better life for them. Will you let them sacrifice their lives uselessly for you; just so that you can sit here right now and blame yourself for everything? Or will you take control, right here, right now—not to dwell on the past—but to move forward and think. Think about what do you have now? What can you protect now? What did your friends who sacrificed themselves for you wanted you to do?"

Rae lifted her eyes, the tumult of emotions enshrouding the green, almost making them seem black.

"Think. What do you still have now?" Her eyes started to clear, a spark of realization burrowing up from within.

"Maiko," Rae breathed, "Maiko may be alive...and I have–have to bury Yura...give her a proper funeral..." Her eyes shone with unshed tears, but not a single drop dared to cross the border to the outside world. "And...and I want to save everyone."

Gintoki nudged his open palm against the closed fist of Rae's, grinning up lazily at her. "Friends will always help each other out. " Rae opened her mouth to protest but was cut off by Gintoki. "You can stick your refusal up your ass."

Rae closed her mouth.

Gintoki nudged her again.

Rae looked down at the wide palm of Gintoki, slowly lifting up her own hand to place into his warm one.

"You ready?"

And Rae saw the little strings of hope and light, stretching from each individual—Katsura and his apparently unwounded Jouishishi (it was the wrong arm he pulled), Tsukuyo and Gintoki—the four strings of friendship, reaching out and wounding around her broken heart, drawing the two jagged halves closer. A guide. To the way where no darkness dwelled.

"Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** Nekote = its a weapon that is fitted on the fingers by leather bands → it looks like long cat claws  
> Kind of like Bleach Soi-Fon's Suzumebachi


	25. Questioning yourself if you're in a dream means that you are not in a dream

  * "Did half of Edo's population join Aikake's Guard? Is it that high-paying a job? Maybe I should just quit Yorozuya and join..." Gintoki mumbled to himself as he piggybacked Rae, one hand clutching his bokuto to send the never-ending guards off to Wonderland.



"Arrest them alive!" One guard roared, an echo rising up from the mass of 'fanboys'.

"Weren't they screaming about killing us moments ago? Now they want to take us alive? That's unusual." Katsura with his surviving members of the Joui kicked the guards they disabled back at the mass of armed guards, creating a domino effect as men fell left and right.

"Aikake. He loves the control." Rae coughed slightly from the flying glitter irritating her throat, not bothering to elaborate on what she meant.

"Control? Man, he must have a lack of new toys to play with. I'll provide him one —" Rae tensed up, thinking that Gintoki was about to do something stupid like giving himself up to Aikake, "—that explodes." Gintoki finished, grinning like a cheshire cat. Rae calmed her thundering heart.

"Rae-dono, any idea where Saito-dono is?" Katsura caught up with them.

"No, but we can check the torture rooms."

"Lead the way!"

* * *

Hitomu ( **A/N: Aikake's close servant if you can't rmb** ) bandaged up his master awkwardly, not daring to mutter a single word at the stormy expression on Aikake's face.

It was the first time that Hitomu had to treat the wounds of his master—Aikake never got hurt; even if he did, it was shallow cuts and light scratches-and Hitomu had to wonder how skilled was the swordsman to actually be able to force his proud master to escape. If Hitomu had his choice, he would have the resident doctor give his master a full body check-up.

"Aikake-sama, everything is prepared. We will initiate lockdown if you would just give the command."

"Leave the entrance open."

"But—Aikake-sama, that's..." Aikake glared at his servant at the first sound of protest.

"They are rare guests of my manor after all." Aikake fingered the bandages. "I want to have some fun."

"We will move them over immediately as you wish, Aikake-sama." Hitomu excused himself to prepare the 'gift'.

* * *

Rae and her friends had searched through all the torture rooms; neither room was empty, yet they still could not find the Captain. Rae took the pains to wobble over to each and every victim, freeing them from their heavy chains with trembling fingers. Lacerations covered their body, some so horribly tortured Rae could not even imagine how they originally looked. There were servants that she recognised from during her four years in the manor, others that she gussed were corporate enemies.

There was only one man that had kept enough of his mind (and tongue) to thank her as Rae pulled the clanking chains from his distorted body. Half of them had their minds completely shattered by Aikake himself or his dastardly lackeys, sliding down to the floor like broken dolls, still chained invisibly by the mind. Getting them to escape was impossible. Saddened that she did not have the chance to free them earlier, Rae sank into a dogeza, apologizing silently for her incompetence. It was hard for her to leave them on the floor, waiting for nothing but more pain and blood.

The other half had already descended into madness, killing themselves immediately the moment they were free from the chains. After the first one had impaled herself with a neaby weapon of torture, Gintoki swept the room clean of any sharp objects for the second one. It didn't help. The second victim ran into the wall before Rae or Gintoki could stop him. The trail of blood from his head blended perfectly into the other blood splatters on the wall.

"They can still be saved! They can!" Rae curled her hands into fists as she watched another victim snap her own neck. So quick and fast that even though Rae and Gintoki had been expecting it, they still could not stop her in time. Rae had known the servant—Rae talked to her on several occasions—but now she just laid on the defaced floor, her neck bent at an awkward angle, open brown eyes that reminded Rae so much of Maiko pooling with the relief she felt before her death.

Gintoki said nothing, only reaching out a gentle hand to close the servant's eyes.

"How many more?" Gintoki asked quietly.

"Three more." Rae replied, grief consuming her.

Tsukuyo and Katsura battled the guards outside, glimpsing enough of the room inside to know that it was another failed rescue.

"Gintoki! Go on ahead to find the Captain! I will take care of this here! We have no time left!" Tsukuyo shouted. "We will save everyone without a doubt, Rae." The Shinigami Tayuu's eyes filled with determination convinced her, and Rae nodded, giving her thanks to Tsukuyo.

* * *

Gintoki and Rae (on his back) sped off towards the freezer room. They had checked the boiler room beforehand. If Saito still couldn't be found in the freezer room, Rae didn't know anywhere else Aikake would keep his prisoners.

They burst into the cold room, drafts of dense fog crawling out into the warmer atmosphere.

"OI CAPTAIN WOLFRO! ANSWER ME IF YOU'RE HERE!" Gintoki called out into the foggy room, shivering as the icy temperature bit into his skin.

Rae bonked his head, "He's hurt, you idiot. And he's either unconscious or half frozen by now."

"Or dea—" Gintoki was cut off by another bonk on his fluffy head.

"He's not dead!...I think..." Rae trailed off, recalling the deep wounds on Saito. Gintoki scoffed.

"Who is the motherfucking asshole who dares to trespass Aikake-sama's property, eh?!" The voice of Shiramo Nagai, or rather, Hooked Nose, echoed in the empty room. Gintoki squinted into the white room, trying to catch a glimspe of this person's silhouette.

"Have you gone through puberty yet, boy?" Gintoki yelled back, "Your voice sounds like a squealing piglet!"

"SHUT UP! EVERYONE IS PISSING ME OFF TODAY! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM—"

Hooked Nose stopped abruptly, the rest of his sentence stuck in his throat. He gulped at the glitter samurai who suddenly appeared inches away from his toes, swift as the wind.

"I. Found. You." Gintoki towered over Shiramo, his crimson eyes bearing down on him in silent authority. The moment the dumbass man had raised his voice, it was too easy to just locate him.

"I-I..uh..HAH! You think you've got me, huh?! I'm the right hand man—" Rae reached out to bonk the man on the head, hard.

"Shut up." Another solid bonk.

"What are you doing! You slave—" Another bonk, this time by Gintoki's bokuto.

Hooked Nose collasped onto the frigid floor, 3 ugly red bumps growing out from the top of his head.

"Captain-san." Rae was let down by Gintoki as he pillaged the furs and heaters Hooked Nose had hidden in his clothes, wrapping a thick red fox fur scarf around his neck.

"CAPTAIN-SAN!" Rae screamed into his ear, startling Saito awake. Gintoki cut Saito's chains with his bokuto.

Rae swathed the frozen Saito in bundles of warm, heated fur. Rae herself didn't feel that cold, so she passed on all the remaining fur to Saito who needed it most. She pushed up his remaining afro from his eyes, waving a hand in front of the confused man.

Saito awoke to see the irresistible face of Mihoshi Rae floating in front of him.

_Is this a dreamz?_

Saito Shimaru raised a hand to caress the cheek of Rae, and froze.

He touched flesh and skin.

_Hold on._

_This is not a dream. I touched real flesh, rightz?_

Rae twisted her head away from Saito's touch, her mouth tightening into a straight line. "Captain-san. Could you stop pinching my cheeks?"

Embarrassment burst into bright splotches of red, colouring the pale face and ears of Saito Shimaru as he removed his hand from Rae's face. He jumped up, waving his hands frantically about trying to apologize for his actions, but ended up writhing on the floor in pain as his wounds started to bleed again.

"Oi Wolfro, can you walk—no—can you run?" Gintoki asked the three-quartered afro-Captain, who was still clutching at his wounds on the floor.

Saito blinked up at him, and Gintoki blinked back. Rae gaped at the thoughtless question.

Saito slowly nodded.

Rae protested, defending herself by saying she could keep up with Gintoki's speed in running, but Gintoki exclaimed: I don't want to carry a man!

Silent understanding passed between the two men as they looked at each other. Their pride was at stake here. Not any self-respecting man would allow themselves to be piggybacked around by other men when they still had two legs to run with. It was embarrassing for the one doing the carrying too.

Rae smacked her head against her palm as the two men shook hands.

* * *

The three of them met up with Tsukuyo and Katsura, who had the three remaining tortured victims with them — still chained up. It was the only way Tsukuyo could think of to get them to follow her out of the room. Taking off the chains meant that they would kill themselves, or just slump to the floor in an unthinking mass of human skin & bonds.

Tsukuyo felt a little guilty at leading the two men and woman around in chains like dogs, so she passed the responsibility over to Katsura's men. Guards and debris littered the floor around them, and Tsukuyo was sure that they had taken out at least half of Aikake's Guard. She hummed with surprise as she estimated the enormous number that consisted of Aikake's Guard. They must have knocked more than a few hundreds out—and these few hundreds were just for protecting a single estate—how large would Aikake's army be? Thousands?

Tsukuyo didn't have the luxury of time to contemplate on the military strength Aikake held. They still had people to save.

Rae knew a few of those secret passageways which led to the North side of the estate, the only part of the estate where they hadn't searched for Maiko and Yura. She used them in the past in her number of solo escapes, and that time with Yura too. She slid off Gintoki's back, sparing a glance at the grimacing Saito, and tried to offer Gintoki's piggybacking service to him again. Her hundredth offer was swiftly rejected by the firm shake of Saito's head.

"There's one here, behind the vase..." Rae reached a slim hand around the curve of the large porcelain vase, searching for the familiar indent in the wall. She pressed down on the tiny button, expecting to hear the click and slide of the contraption revealing a hidden doorway.

Nothing happened.

"..."

Rae pressed it again.

Only thud of Rae's finger against the ungiving stubbornness of the button was heard as it refused to sink in.

(._.)

The tempo of the thuds increased as Rae spammed her finger on the button. "Shit."

"Is there something wrong, Rae-dono?" Katsura peered over the edge of the expensive vase, trying to catch a glimpse at what she was doing.

"Aikake locked down the whole manor. All the secret passageways are inaccessible." Rae's tone was tinged with despair. Her mind worked tirelessly as she pieced all the characteristics of Aikake together in her head. "I bet—I bet that he left the front entrance open for us. The only way to the North sector is through the passageways, or by the entrance and courtyard." She continued, "We're little sheeps being guided by the shepherd. It's an obvious trap."

"That explains the lack of guards chasing after us now." Tsukuyo frowned.

"Well, we have to get out of here sooner or later. Zura, do you still have your..err.." Gintoki scratched his head, trying to recall the goddamn bomb's name. "—Justaway?"

"Zura ja nai! Justawayne da!" Katsura paused, "...I only brought a few prototypes which I used up to blow the gate up."

Gintoki sighed. "Trap or not, we'll have to go." He turned to Saito. "Wolfro, can you fight?"

Saito nodded once again. He had recovered enough to fight —because that's what all shounen manga characters are able to do while running and tearing their wounds open. His hand went to his back only to realise his lack of weapons, and gesticulated at Gintoki's bokuto, trying to tell them that he couldn't possibly fight efficiently without anything.

?(•_•;)

"Oh. Captain-san needs weapons." Rae translated for the clueless people, and Saito sagged with relief when his message was sent across.

Gintoki held up a finger for them to wait, and rushed off somewhere. He came back bearing all kinds of weapons, from maces ( how did he carry them?! ) to pickaxes (why the hell is it considered a weapon?). Gintoki dumped them onto the floor with a loud clang, spreading his arms open at the spread of sharp objects. "Feel free to choose. I got them at the torture rooms."

Saito picked two knives that were relatively close to his own weapons' length, and stowed a few more daggers in his waistcoat. Rae helped herself to two daggers as well. She couldn't fight for shit but she wasn't going down so easily. Everyone replenished their lack of weapons, gearing up for the final battle.

"Oi, author. You gotta play some battle music."

Author: Gin-san. I can't translate battle music into words.

"Readers! Go search for any battle music—Fairy Tail, Undertale's Megalovania...Oooh Akame Ga Kill's Kinpaku (緊迫) theme is pretty good— I don't care. We are not striding into the battlefield without a cool soundtrack in the background."

Author: Shut up and go already.

Gintoki flipped the red fox-fur scarf over his shoulder fabulously in reply.

And so, with the music of clanking metal chains and rustling of fabric, the Aveng—uhh—Guardians of the Ga—that's not it...the party of samurai, ninja, terrorists, policeman and Siren stalked with insufferable swagger towards the entrance.


	26. Explaining The Plot is a Villian's Weakness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because they always die after doing that

*absolutely heart-thumping, toe-curling, EXCITING, battle music playing in the background*

The Guardians of Rae spread out in a line, strutting down the corridor with the confidence and arrogance of a peacock flaunting his marvellous display of feathers at the peahen.

The sea of 'commoners' (guards) parted for them—they didn't even need to lift a single finger— many of them collapsing under the sheer coolness radiating from the mismatched party.

"Too..bright!" A guard shielded his mortal eyes from the aura of radiance emitting from the Guardians, falling to his knees dramatically as the Shinigami Tayuu strode past him, her long legs on display.

"I-I need sunglasses...sunglasses!" Another guard wailed, pounding a fist against the floor. "They are a laser beam of greatness! So bright!"

"Is it too shiny for you? I'm sorry, but I can't hide my brilliance!" Gintoki grinned at the sprawling mess of guards, a fanatic guard screaming for their attention—

—was what Gintoki imagined as they flounced down the empty, silent corridor.

"Tch, no fun at all."

"Should I get you some medicine for your hallucinations?" Rae teased satirically as she glanced at the pouting face of Gintoki.

"But I'm the main character of Gintama! I'm the champion of the Popularity Polls! Shouldn't this be the norm?"

Honestly, he was just bored and itching for a fight. Gintoki would take any opportunity to entertain himself. He was so fired up that he thought he was going to morph into Natsu Dragneel—but the long trek to the entrance kind of dampened his sprits. Moreover, the heavy tension in the air was smothering him. Gintama is a comedy manga! Everyone shouldn't have those dark looks on their faces. It wouldn't be Gintama if they didn't waltz into the battlefield with a stuck-up smile.

"Yeah, I'm the main character of this fanfiction. I call the shots here." Rae countered.

Katsura was ahead, sharpening his katana against a random one he picked up with a wicked smile. "I'm going to cut his head off..."

Ignoring the 'shiiiing' of the metal scraping against each other, Rae warned softly, "We're reaching."

Everyone gave themselves over to their predatory instincts, shifting their hidden weapons closer for easy reach. They all knew was no avoiding a massacre.

There was finally silence from the Yorozuya boss. Rae sucked in a deep breath, preparing herself for the inevitable. _Just one more corner..._

Rae's breath caught in her throat as a terrifying sight unfolded before her eyes.

Tsukuyo's heart stuttered when she saw it, noticing Rae's horrified expression.

It seemed that there was no need to search for Rae's friends any further.

Because they were right in front of their eyes, hanging over the front entrance.

* * *

" ** _MAIKOOOO_**!" Rae's scream tore across the room.

Gintoki swore he could smell the fear rolling off Rae. He had seen many things—possibly everything a man could ever see in his entire life—yet this sight made his stomach roil.

Maiko and Yura wasn't just hanging above front entrance.

They were **_nailed_** to the wall.

The flat head of the large nails was stark against their mangled flesh, each one hammered down on their hands and feet, with another right in their middle. Goosebumps rose all over Gintoki's arms, the pain they feel —their body weight pulling down on the nails—

It was a miracle if Maiko would still be alive after this.

Katsura stopped sharpening his katana, his gaze fixated on the precariously attached head of the dead Yura. Aikake had ordered his men to take great care to not rip her head off accidentally—after all, the un-severed swaying head made for a more gruesome image.

Rae's fearful cry had woken the unconscious Maiko, whose blindfold was taken off.

"R-Rae..." Her face warped violently at the pain eating away at her body, the wounds on her face ripping open again. One eye was so swollen with blood that Rae was sure that the barbs on the whip had punctured through the cloth and into Maiko's eye. Scarlet blood spilled out from within the shredded flesh. The sight of Maiko's and Yura's body would have scared any men shitless.

Tsukuyo grabbed Rae's hand, trying to anchor the woman in her own sanity. Rae's vice-like grip crushed Tsukuyo's bones, her own panic and fear and guilt overriding her senses to her surroundings. All she could see was her friends nailed up there, suffering the pain, becoming her scapegoat for her actions—

"Run..." Maiko croaked, forcing a single word out before passing out in agony. Her bloodshot pupil rolled back into her head.

Rae didn't know that whether she should be glad that Maiko wouldn't be able to see Yura beside her; those once lifeful blue eyes, swinging on the near decapitated body.

"MAIKO! STAY WITH ME MAIKO! " A choked sob escaped her, but her own feet didn't move under her command to rush to Maiko and Yura's side, and take them down from the walls.

"This is what I call, a **_proper_** welcome."

The sonorous voice had lost its smooth edge, sounding more like one which fed on screams and blood and pain.

It was accompanied by the marching footsteps of the remaining forces of the guards surrounding the group. There was still more than a hundred men left. The guards cut them off from all escape routes, the soft slither of metal being drawn from their sheaths sending Saito into battle stance immediately. Tsukuyo let go of Rae's hand to lift her kunais up.

Saito was ridden with guilt after seeing Maiko in a worse state than him. After all, he felt partly responsible for his incapability to get both Rae and Maiko out of this hellhole.

Rae turned her gaze to the man standing on the precipice of a beam running across the top of the front entrace, the flayed bodies of Yura and Maiko displayed out behind him like his perverse prized possessions. A small smile of glee graced his features. He did not show any sign of being wounded severely, standing as tall and proud as a statue.

"Dear cupcake, how were my presents? You love it, no?" Aikake purred, the dangerous tone of his voice raising Saito's hackles.

Rae choked with all the anger and disgust swelling up within, her hands trembling with uncontrollable rage. Afraid that she might bite off her tongue with the force of the few choice words she wanted to spit out, Rae settled for a vehement glare.

Tsukuyo gulped. This man was insane. Absolutely, fucking insane. She was sure any normal human being wouldn't have preserved and whipped a dead body.

With just a twitch of Aikake's fingers, the guards moved in closer, their sharp weapons just a stretch of an arm away. The group pressed in closer into the center, encircling and protecting the shaking Rae. Not a single one attempted to make the first move—both sides were still waiting to see what would happen next.

"Cupcake. I'm going to let you choose—"

"Shut the fuck up already." Gintoki burst out, annoyance all over his face, "Can you just get to the point?"

Tsukuyo resisted the urge to throw a kunai at Gintoki's sparkly head.

Silence ensued.

Aikake's expression became stormier, but he continued. "Option one. Stay with me, and I'll let **_all_** your friends go. Option two, you try to leave with them, and I'll kill every single one of your friends. Even the Shinsengumi and that old grandma in Kabukicho."

The group stepped in closer to Rae—they weren't about to let her go back to being Aikake's slave.

Blood drained from Rae's face. "I.."

"You have ten seconds. Before I kill off your friend." He held a knife at the base of Maiko's throat. Rae's heart dropped to her feet. A choice for her to make. A choice in which she holds the lives of her friends in her hands again. A choice that will either break her, or save them all.

"10."

Gintoki frowned. There must be another way—

"9."

Tsukuyo judged the distance between Aikake's hand and her. Maybe she could aim from here—no, no its too far...  
Her knuckles turned white as she gripped her kunai harder.

"8."

"Rae-dono." Katsura glanced at the ashen complexion of the shaking woman, her nails digging into her own palm.

"7."

Every fibre of her body screamed at her to escape, but Rae drew in a deep breath, steadying herself. She wouldn't let any single one of her friends die again. Swallowing her fear of returning back to the prison she hated so much, Rae opened her mouth.

"I'll stay."

Rae almost broke down at the two words she uttered out. _Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry—_

Gintoki cursed under his breath, fury colouring his eyes an almost luminescent red. He wasn't going to give Rae up so easily to that bastard. The rest seemed to think similarly, shifting into offensive positions.

Aikake stopped counting down, a pleased smile splitting across his lips. "You made the right decision, my dear cupcake."

And then he lifted the hand which still held that sharp knife, and slit it across Maiko's throat.


	27. Help always comes in ways you least suspect

Maiko's eyes shot open. Both eyes.

She stared unfocusedly into Rae's green ones, one eye a mushy pulp. The pain that flared across her throat awoke her from her involuntary slumber.

Maiko gurgled, choking on her own blood. Aikake purposely did not make a clean cut. She was bewildered for a second before she realised she was going to die.

The front hall was silent, shock filling the empty space as everyone watched the woman nailed on the wall suffocate with her own blood running down her own airway.

Rae stared at her friend's remaining brown eye, still not registering what had happened.

Maiko's vision swam in front of her, dotted with black spots. Pain. There was so much pain she didn't know where it started and ended. Vaguely, she could make out Rae in the crowd below, a confounded look on her face.

Maiko tried her best to smile at Rae, she knew she was going to die sooner or later—but Rae—poor, little Rae had to watch her take her last breath. Death stretched his bony fingers out to her, grasping at her soul. _Not yet, not yet._  
She still has things to say—things that Rae needed to hear...

She writhed out of Darkness's grasp, the dying lucidity clearing up her hazy brain.

Rae's dilated pupils took in the sight of Maiko, those swollen lips mouthing something that she couldn't hear over the roar of blood in her ears.

**_"I"_ **

_E-eh?_ Rae's finger twitched. Her chest hurt so badly—why is it hurting? Why?

**_"Love"_ **

Rae could feel the chasm of despair cracking and opening up again, her still-healing heart in danger of plummeting down into nothingness...deep, deep down...

**"You"**

"M-Mai...ko?" Rae spluttered. There's something wrong with her friend. There's a weird red line on her neck that looks like it shouldn't be there...

The woman on the wall gave a wobbly half-smile, as the hint of light—of life in her eyes ebbed away. Relief washed over Maiko as she was spared from the torment, tumbling down into the soft arms of Death.

Maiko's head drooped down.

"Maiko...?" Rae gazed at the two bodies nailed on the wall. Her two friends. Her two **_dead_** friends. Dark blood streamed leisurely down the pale wall.

Blood. From her friend's body.

_She died. She died. She died—_

Tsukuyo turned slowly, her own trembling hand trying to find purchase on Rae's. "Rae...!"

Violet eyes tracked from Rae's root hairs, trailing down the cascade of black—no—it was white.

Every eye in the hall zeroed in on the rigid half-human, cold winter wind blasting through the cracked open front doors.

Colour leeched from jet-black hair, light strands lifting in the wind in a mesmerising dance. The emotionless face of Rae was still tilted upwards; frozen in that moment, gazing at the grotesque corpses.

Guilt stabbed at Gintoki's heart. Rae's hair wasn't a dirty silver like his. It was the colour of nothingness. Of the void of that Gintoki knew all too well; it was a mechanism that kept Rae from going completely insane. To shut her off from any emotions that will throughly break her to the point of no return.

"FILTHY LIAR!" Katsura roared, pointing his katana at the bemused face of Aikake. Saito lost his grip on his long knives. They clattered to the floor, the sound jostling everyone else from their stupor.

"I did not lie. I did say that I would let all of cupcake's friends go. But I never said that any of you would be leaving here **_alive_**." Aikake raised an eyebrow. He had truly not expected Rae's little show.

Tsukuyo clutched Rae's shoulders, turning the doll-like woman to face her. "Rae!" Tsukuyo shook her with all her might. Rae's head snapped back and forth, her vacant green eyes still wide open.

"Rae!" Anxiousness enveloped Tsukuyo, but her hold on Rae's shoulders slackened. The white-haired woman's knees gave out, sliding down to the floor with Tsukuyo's arms around her. Tears gathered in the blond's eyes, sorrow eating her heart out at the sight of the lifeless, broken doll she held.

"Cry it out...come on...cry it out...don't keep it bottled inside you...just cry...cry..won't you?"

Silence was the only reply Tsukuyo got, green eyes seeming like the replica of Yura's blue ones.

"Rae...come on...let it all out..." Tsukuyo cradled Rae, her face buried in the crook of Rae's shoulder, wetness spreading across Gintoki's kimono that covered Rae's small body.

"What are you doing?! Attack!" Aikake's authoritative voice boomed across the hall, startling the guards into action.

With a war cry, the guards raised their weapons with new vigour, slashing down on the unprepared group. Saito swept up his knives with a well-trained flick of his boots, his guilt powering him through the guards like a whirlwind of death.

The three slaves they had rescued stood in the middle together with Tsukuyo and Rae, the battle unfolding with increasing intensity beyond the protective circle of Gintoki, Saito, Katsura and the Jouishishi members.

"We have to get out!" Gintoki yelled, pushing all his tumultous emotions to the back of his mind. Their first priority was to get everyone else out alive.

The guards swarmed the group, their fighting skills a higher caliber than those shrimps that Gintoki took out earlier when they broke into the manor. They were the elite of Aikake's estate guards—Aikake had been saving them for this plausible moment that might happen. Elite as they might be, they were still no match for the experienced crew, but taking each of the guards down took more energy than Gintoki liked. The group wouldn't last long if they continued like this. They were already spent from all the fighting and running in the break-in.

Saito's wounds burned horribly, his hands were shaking from exhaustion. Just as he was about to drop to the ground, a familiar rustle of silk and the clopping of getas caught his attention. The guards he was fighting against turned in shock to the gaggle of women streaming down the corridor, totally forgetting that they were in the middle of battle.

The smell of flowery perfumes and powder permeated the air, their calls for Rae rising above the surprised grunts of the guards. The women slaves bustled in the battlefield as if it was their home ground, some clinging to guards and others hanging on to the crew. Saito blushed madly at the two beautiful women grabbing both of his arms, their iron grips almost cutting off the supply of blood to his fingers. Katsura blanched, demanding politely for the slaves to let his torso and arms go. Gintoki—well—he was rather surprised at the turn of events, but wasn't disliking this particular turn of events.

The guards dropped their weapons like panicking chickens, afraid to hurt a single hair on the slaves. Aikake would tear them open from inside out if they damaged any of his property.

Aikake's face was hewn from a slab of granite, the iciness of his tone piercing through the cacophony as he demanded an answer from the rebelling slaves. " ** _What_**. Is. this?"

"RAE! BRING RAE OUT NOW!" The women hauled Gintoki and the rest with unnatural strength towards the front entrance, keeping close contact with them. Only they could stop the guards from attacking. After all, their bodies were precious bargaining chips of Aikake's—for the court officials he needed to keep in his favour. Moreover, the amount of money spent on cultivating these women into the most attractive baits was not small at all.

The guards were flustered, trying to keep their 'grubby' hands—as Aikake so called—from the dainty female flowers, throwing helpless glances at their Lord. Their Lord was seething, his eyes set in a quiet fire that burned through even air to the glittering samurai's back, where Rae now draped across. The scathing look was felt by Gintoki, and the perm-head samurai turned, flipping up a rude finger.

" ** _WHAT_** , I ASK, IS THIS?!" Aikake thundered, anger spiking his blood pressure up. The barely closed wounds split open, staining his clothes red. Aikake staggered into the wall behind him, the nekote blades sliding out from its sheaths. This was not in his calculations, he had never thought of this—

"Aikake-sama!" Concerned shouts fluttered into Aikake's ears, and his Lordship pushed himself off the wall, only to halt at the pain stubbornly pushing him back down. "Chase after them!" Aikake panted, throwing a hand towards the crew making their way out at top speed with nothing holding them back. The remaining women formed a barrier, getas, combs, sharp pins, fans, clenched in their pale hands.

"We won't let you! You have to get past us before you can even think about touching Rae!" The women protested, a few shaking with fury. None of them had missed the glaring displays nailed on the walls above them.

The guards hesitated, feet shuffling as they turned to their dictator once again.

"You are allowed..." Aikake gathered his breath to repeat his order, ignoring the burst of white-hot pain as his lungs expanded, "You are allowed to make contact! But I do not want to see a **_single_** bruise on them."

It was all the guards needed to hear as they advanced upon the slaves.

* * *

The women hustled the astonished group out into the courtyard, their hands placed everywhere that was appropriate—even at their heads. A female slave glared at the shooters lined at the top of the wall, daring them to take aim at the group. The shooters retracted their guns and arrows, looking hesitantly at each other. If they took the chance and shot, they might hit the women instead. An involuntary shiver slithered down their spines as they imagined the fatal punishment they would receive.

"Please, get your hands off me!" Katsura was still a gentleman through and through, so he didn't try to manhandle the ladies off.

None of the slaves did as he told, their attention captured by the empty vessel called Rae, draped across Gintoki's back.

"Rae..." A slave with stunning mahogany eyes stroked Rae's hair, the colour of pure white of moonlight on snow. She turned to address the group, determination lining her face. "We need to hurry! We'll escort you safely out to the gate, but we cannot step out of the estate grounds. It all depends on you to escape after that."

"Wha-why are you—?" Tsukuyo stammered, the soft hands of the women pushing her to run at a faster pace.

"The shooters won't dare to fire at us. If they hurt us, they will be dead. No one can touch us without permission from Lord Aikake." A tinkling voice answered Tsukuyo's question, "Now shut your mouths and hurry! The guards will be coming soon! We can only deter them for a short period of time!"

Snow fell as silent spectators, flakes melting into the warm huddle of bodies. "Promise me. Promise me that you will keep Rae alive." The tinkling voice continued.

"You didn't even need to say that, of course we will." Gintoki's boots crunched solemnly into the rising pile of snow.

"Protect her well. She has been through many horrible things in her life, things which I can't even envisage—but I believe she will recover from this—no, you **_will_** be able to help her..." Another slave trailed off.

Each slave had their turn of sending their best well-wishes/warnings, but all of them were the same in asking Gintoki and the others to take good care of Rae. Before long, they had reached the gate. It was shut close, but no matter, they still had the gaping hole that they blasted through hours ago.

"Goodbye, friends of Rae." The mahogany-eyed woman let go of Gintoki's arm, shoving them towards the jagged hole.

"You could escape with us you know? Now that everything is in chaos, he wouldn't know if you guys were missing." Gintoki dug his heels into the ground against the force of the woman.

"It's useless. He'll track us down no matter what. I admire Rae for the number of times she even made it out of the estate. We are monitored very closely. If we are caught escaping, the punishment we receive will be even worse than what we will get for helping you guys."

Sadness flitted across the beautiful woman's face, but she steeled herself, shooing the group out. The slaves circled the hole, still blocking the group from any potential bullets that might come flying the moment the slaves weren't in clear shot of the scope.

The group hurried away into the breaking dawn, the dark sky lightening up with stains of orange and pink and purple.

Tsukuyo turned back to see the silent women staring longingly after them—loneliness stretched across the floor in their shadows as the first rays of light broke over the peak of the roof.

Longing for freedom.

It reminded Tsukuyo so much of the courtesans back in Yoshiwara before it was liberated.

Biting down on her lip, Tsukuyo tore her gaze away from the slaves. She swore to herself that she was going to free them as well, to bring them around to look at the blue sky under anywhere but in Aikake's estate courtyard.


	28. I actually really did put snot in my sister's mouth once, what can you say? I was a bad kid.

Okita woke up to something salty in his mouth.

He rolled his tongue around to try and figure out what the salty thing was, and as he traced the spherical shape of it, his face blanched into a shade of pasty white. It tasted familiar, a flavour that any curious child would have tried in the early stages of their life—

_Don't tell me...!_

Okita shot up and spat the few balls of salt out, almost fainting when he saw the true identity of the tiny salty balls.

A mix of yellowish green balls of snot landed onto the white futon.

Disgust and outrage blinded him for a second as he whipped his head to glare daggers at the culprit— the **_sweet, lovely_** China snoring soundly away.

Menace leaked out in a dark aura from Okita, but the breathtaking smile on his face painted a different emotion from the killing intent he was harbouring. Okita stalked over to the oblivious Kagura, his smile stretching wider with each step. Kagura's sleeping posture was all over the place, and Okita had to step over her leg to get closer to her. The blanket was thrown haphazardly into a corner.

"Good morning, China." Okita cooed into Kagura's ears.

Kagura twitched a little, but no further response was given.

Okita swore that his lip was splitting open from that **_beautiful_** smile of his. His hand grabbed the empty air around his waist where he always slung his katana. How he would he love to chop up the sleeping girl right now.

"China, wake up."

Kagura shifted, grumbling in her sleep.

"Wake up. Now."

An arm with rope bruises flew up, smacking Okita in the side of his head. Okita's secure wig almost flew off his head—you can only imagine the force required to throw the wig off, considering it had went through a round of rough fighting just last night. His head pounded from Kagura's blow.

"Why are you so violent in your sleep?!" Okita brought his foot down right onto Kagura's wrist, grinding the bone against the floor.

"YAAAAH!" Kagura hollered in pain as her azure eyes popped open, the first sight she took in was the weirdly delightful smile on Okita's face.

Aiming a kick at his face, she yelled, "STOP SMILING-ARU! Why the heck are you smiling?! Your face being the first thing I see in the morning is making me wish that I had been born as a friggin amoeba! How can you smile-aru?!"

"I'm smiling because I can't get any angrier."

Okita replied, blocking her kick with his arm. "When did you put those boogers of yours in my mouth?"

Kagura went silent unexpectedly, her head hanging down with what seemed — almost...apologetic? Okita's eyebrows inched together into a frown, as he watched Kagura's shoulders shake.

If anyone else saw the scene right then, they would have assumed that Okita the bad guy was bullying a little girl to the point of tears.

Unable to see her expression, Okita bent down a little to get to her height, but his eyes met with 2 perfectly aimed balls of snot. The 2 snot-balls sunk painfully into his eyes, and Okita staggered backwards, almost falling to the ground.

"CHINAAAAA!" Okita's blood pressure shot up, his eyes turning bloodshot from both the disgusting balls of snot and the blood leaking out from his burst capillaries. The red-head guffawed, clutching her stomach as she howled with laughter.

Understanding dawned upon Okita. She was shaking with laughter earlier. He clawed out the 2 snot-balls from his eyes, his bloodshot eyes burning with feral anger.

"No one messes with the Queen of Kabukicho-aru." Kagura smirked, slamming open the metal shoji. The shoji was pushed out of its place in the door groove, denting when it hit the wall with a loud bang.

Okita was about to rebutt when Kagura interrupted him, "Also, don't call me like that—you sound like Naruto calling for Sasuke-aru."

"You—!" Kagura pranced out of the door before Okita could finish his sentence. He spat at the retreating shadow of Kagura's, the salty taste of snot still lingering. Before he gets even with China, the first thing he needed to do was to wash the taste of Kagura's nostrils out of his mouth. Okita stormed out of the ruined room, the dark aura of fury sending servants skittering away.

* * *

"SOYO-CHAN!"

"Miss! You can't enter—the Princess is still sleeping! Please—"

"Let her in!" Soyo-hime ordered from her futon, excitement manifesting itself into a smile on her face. She was burning with questions on what happened last night — especially after hearing from the chittering of the servants saying that her uncle went to Morning Court in a bad mood; he couldn't get enough sleep last night from the noisy guests in the room below. Soyo felt a little guilty at accidentally putting them in the room below her uncle's, but she was more curious about what happened between the two to dwell too much on her mistake.

"SOYO-CHAN!" Kagura huffed, her bright hair tumbling around her heaving shoulders.

"Good morning, Kagura-chan! How was your stay last night?" Soyo couldn't help but grin at the thought. However, her grin soon vanished as she took in the bruises the rope left on the skin of Kagura.

"Kagura-chan? What happened?" Soyo's excitement turned into worry.

"That sadist! He—he...I mean she-aru! She...uh...Soyo-chan! Why did you put me in the same room as her-aru?!" Kagura almost forgot that they were still supposed to be in disguise.

"Wh-what? Oh. The servants...uh...I actually just chose the two rooms but the servants just separated you guys in the order of who came out of the bath earlier. So..." Soyo cooked up an excuse immediately.

"Are you sure the author didn't force you to do this? She even went and changed my accent from 'uh-huh' to 'aru'-aru." Kagura crossed her arms.

"...No! Of course not! Hahaha!" Soyo looked to the side, a sweatdrop sliding down her forehead.

Author: Oi! Kagura stop breaking the fourth wall! I'm supposed to be the one in control here!

"Shut up-aru."

Author: Sorry...Back to the story!

Soyo went up to Kagura, grabbing her arm to get a better look at the bruises. "Kagura-chan...I didn't know Oki—Souko-san was into BDSM..."

"SOYO-CHAN! What are talking about-aru?! Sadist-chan is—is straight-aru! Nothing that you imagined happened last night! We—we just had a fight...with ropes...yeah! With ropes-aru!"

"Nothing of **_that sort_** happened between you two? Really?" Soyo couldn't decide whether she was relieved or disappointed.

"Yeah-aru! Nothing-aru! We hate each other so we had a fight—Ah! SOYO-CHAN! The futon! Why was there only one-aru?!"

Soyo vehemently denied her connection with the futon, not forgetting to fake a few coughs from her 'cold', claiming that she left everything up to her servants.

Unannounced, Nobume popped out silently from the doorway. "Hello."

"Nobume-chan!" Soyo exclaimed, "I thought you went to Morning Court together with Onii-sama!"

"I was bored. So I came back to get some snacks." Nobume revealed the boxes of sweets she hid in her uniform.

"Morning Court commenced already?" Kagura inquired, as she scoured the room with her eyes to find a clock. "It's only 8-aru!"

"Morning Court starts at 7. " Nobume replied, her hand reaching into a box to retrieve a strawberry doughnut out.

"Non-members of the Bakufu are not supposed to attend Morning Court, but Nobume-chan is Onii-sama's bodyguard, so she's different. I just happen to know where we can spy on the assembly, I'll bring you guys to watch once you guys get ready."

"We are ready, Hime-sama." Shinpachi and Hijikata appeared timely at the Princess's door. "Although we are not sure where Souko-san went." Shinpachi glanced around for the light-haired 'beauty'.

"Let's go-aru! You don't have to give a shit about that sadist-aru!" Kagura snapped.

"We'll have breakfast after this, are you okay, Kagura-chan?" Soyo knew her friend's hunger pangs were not something to be taken lightly.

"I have Nobume-chan's doughnuts-aru." Kagura thanked the quiet Vice-Commander of the Mimawarigumi as she very generously handed her a rainbow doughnut.

"One doughnut costs 1 billion." Nobume stated after she handed the doughnut over.

"You can find Gin-chan for that-aru." Kagura wasted no time in chomping down the crispy Pon de Ring.

Soyo giggled at the exchange, chasing everyone out of her room to change into something more appropriate for some sneaking around.

* * *

Okita joined the horde as they creeped towards the secret room hidden behind the throne of the Shogun. They were in a single file, Soyo-hime leading the front, and Hijikata taking up the last spot of the row. Maizou would have exploded if he saw the Princess being so un-princessly—listening in on the Morning Court was a great offence. Normal people that were caught would have been execeuted immediately. Fortunately, Maizou was at the Morning Court together with the Shogun. Nobume had also returned to her post beside the Shogun—no one noticed she had disappeared to get some food.

"Sougo! Where did you go?" Hijikata whispered to the Captain.

"I was plotting China's death." Hijikata was hit in the face with a overpowering smell of mint when Okita opened his mouth to reply.

"What did you do?! You smell like you swallowed a whole damn bottle of mint mouthwash!"

"I did."

"Shhh!" Somewhere up front the Princess shushed them.

Keeping their mouths tightly shut, the dark tunnel they were creeping in expanded into a wider room. It was still a tight squeeze with so many people, but they could see what was going on clearly in the Imperial Court Room. Holes were bored into the wall in front of them, light shining in through the holes from the strong sunlight illuminating the Court Room outside.

"Where exactly are we, Hime-sama?" Shinpachi asked softly as he took one of the many holes, putting his eye over it. He could see the grand spread of Bakufu officials sitting in the order of their respective ranks. In their official court robes, the atmosphere was heavy and serious—just like how Shinpachi imagined how a Court assembly to be. The Daimyo stood out with the rich purple of their robes, the fine design and material screaming out just how at a higher rank they were compared to the other officials. The Daimyo were situated closest to the Shogun—the closer they were, the higher the rank they possess.

"The Inusei Amanto requested to be reimbursed for the damage to their manor, and hospital fees for their Ambassador as he apparently suffered great shock from that fireworks incident." A lower ranked official was reporting to the Shogun, bowing respectfully down.

"Preposterous!" Murmurs of displeasure travelled throughout the room. "The fireworks just happened to only burn the grass of their lawn! And they demand 20 million for the reparation of their grass!"

"Hospital fees?! He should just go to China! They'll cook him up for dinner, I daresay!"

"This is unacceptable!"

"Quiet."

Shinpachi and the rest looked forward, to where the source of the voice was. The restless officials quietened down immediately, turning their full attention back to their Shogun, waiting for his instructions.

"20 million, was it? Lord Sushi, you'll take care of it." The Shogun called his Royal Treasurer out, his gentle voice not showing any sense of anger at the absurdness of the Inusei's request. His voice sounded awfully close to where they were hiding in, like right in front them...

"Did Sho-chan just call that guy 'sushi'?" Kagura sniggered, but apparently the joke went over the heads

"Ah, we are behind Onii-sama's seat, the backgroud wall." Soyo finally replied to Shinpachi's question.

"Eeeeeehh?"

"I discovered this hidden room when I was younger, and I never told anyone—not even Onii-sama."

Shinpachi switched to a different hole, and suddenly, his view was blocked by a kanmuri**. "Is-is this Shogun-sama's kanmuri?!"

"That's the center hole, its situated right at the back of the seat, but no one can tell there's a hole in the wall. The hole looks like part of the carvings engraved on the wall." Soyo provided information on each of the holes. "You can poke Onii-sama's kanmuri if you just stick your finger out.

"I'm not going to do that!"

"Oh? Then whose head am I seeing then?"

"Tenko-san! That's the hole right behind my Uncle's seat! Don't go there!" The Princess hissed. "My uncle is very observant so there might be a chance he can sense you! All the times I tried to sneak up on him to give him a little scare failed horribly!"

Hijikata scrambled back. He wasn't planning to die today.

"Keep your mouths shut! I can't hear what the guy is saying!" Kagura quietly reminded them, her ear pressed to one of the holes, while looking out of another hole with her right eye.

"What guy? Get your facts right. That's Lord Matsudaira." Okita spoke up, "Move your asses over here, they look like they are starting."

There was a small scuffle as everyone clambered to get to a hole.

* * *

Shigeshige kept his expression cool as his eyes roved over Aikake Kagai; not a single thread on his robe out of place, and he still held himself with the air of an imposing noble —yet the Daimyo's skin was clammy, and he looked a little more murderous than usual.

Aikake had forced himself to attend this morning's assembly. The injuries he received from that disheveled white samurai was still smarting as he bundled himself up.

Now was not the time to care about his injuries, it was time for Lord Matsudaira to present the petition to the Shogun. Shifting his eyes to Lord Sadasada, Aikake sneered internally at the Advisor. _The crafty old man...I'll beat you in your little game of tug._

The Shogun moved his attention back to Matsudaira Katakuriko , who had worn his version of the Shinsengumi uniform under his open purple robe. The absence of a cigarette was unnatural to his overall appearance. Although, Matsudaira was actually already breaking court rules without wearing the bunkan sokutai ****.**

Nevertheless, Matsudaira knelt and bowed to Shigeshige, following the official procedure for presenting an important petition. He held the shaku** above his head, evoking another round of whispered questions in the court officials. Matsudaira hardly attended court—it was such a surprise to see him at 7 in the morning being all sober—and now he was petitioning the emperor as if the weight of the whole world was upon his shoulders. Officials connected to the Aikake-Hitotsubashi-Matsudaira (AHM) faction knew what was coming next, yet they still feigned surprise and blabbed about with the other oblivious officials.

Lord Sadasada kept his face mostly impassive, but Shigeshige's brows scrunched up. He had been expecting this, but it was still a little heartbreaking to see his good friend and loyal subordinate petition him with such a grave expression of unwillingness and rage. Matsudaira willed his face into a emotionless mask as he started to speak.

"Shogun-sama. I have come today to petition you about the vacant position in the roju (Council of Elders)." As Matsudaira spoke, a servant approached him and held out a tray with a black cloth — the colour of the shogun — draped over it. Reaching in to his robe, Matsudaira withdrew a scroll, placing it onto the tray.

"I recommend Daimyo Aikake Kagai, for the position."

The Court exploded into animated whispering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **kanmuri: a headdress that court officials/nobles wear
> 
> ** bunkan sokutai: the official court attire worn by Bakufu officials  
> \- Purple is of the highest rank (Daimyo)  
> \- followed by blue, red, yellow, white and black  
> \- there is some conflict here as Shoguns wear black (courtesy of google images), yet the lowest rank officials wear black as well. So let's just treat the Shogun's black as JET BLACK and the lowest ranked officials as MATTE BLACK ok? :)
> 
> **shaku : a flat scepter/ ritual tablet used to take notes with during the audience, or to write your own speech notes on it
> 
> **roju (in case u forget what the heck it is again) : Council of Elders, one of the highest ranking position in Bakufu
> 
> The procedure to the most important petition whatever magickthingy was made up, so don't go around telling your friends or whatever that's the correct way to do it


	29. Acting Is Something Everyone Learns as They Grow Up

Shigeshige loosed a breath he hadn't known he had been holding, allowing only his eyes to slide to the side where his scheming uncle was seated.

Tokugawa Sadasada's little finger twitched—the only reaction that he would ever show—but it was not in surprise. They had been waiting for this appeal to pop up the past few Morning Courts, and it was finally here. The Court had no semblance of order as the officials made their own opinions known through loud chattering, some at the farthest end even breaking etiquette as they raised themselves from their kneeling positions to peer over the restless crowd.

Shigeshige raised a hand to silence the blabbing officials, then nodded at Lord Matsudaira to continue.

"Lord Aikake may be young, but he has met the requirements, even exceeded some of them." Matsudaira's voice was strained, anger seeping through the mask he had put up, but he continued, "He has the qualities for a good roju. I _**believe**_ that we are not blind to a talent like him, Shogun-sama. His record of merits are in the scroll for your examination." Lord Matsudaira couldn't help but let satire seep through as well.

Shigeshige kept his expression distant. He was the ruler of this court, he cannot betray any emotions for his friend in front of the greedy goblins that will snatch up and use every single detail against himself. Without a word, the Shogun reached for the scroll, unrolling the long list. He scanned it unfocusedly, none of the words making it into his brain.

"Shogun-sama," Sadasada started, his voice low enough for only Shigeshige and the servants in the closest proximity could hear, "You know that the Court is mostly behind Lord Aikake's back, do you not?" It was a warning that Shigeshige himself knew by heart as well. His Court—no—the Court had divided into three factions, all after their own interests; the Hitotsubashi, Matsudaira, and the rapidly rising power, the Aikake. Matsudaira faction was and always will be loyal to the Shogun, but none can be said for the other two factions, even though the Hitotsubashi faction has served the Shogun as long as the Matsudaira faction. It was always obvious that the Hitotsubashi had some other plans of putting their own family's child up on this accursed seat. However, Sadasada was not just any old man—and he kept the Hitotsubashi leashed under his tight control.

Unable to gain a upper hand in this internal 'war' for the Shogunate seat, Hitotsubashi allied themselves with another faction, the Aikake, who has the same ambition as them. The three large factions have many other smaller officials and factions under their wing, and excluding the reluctant Matsudaira faction, at least two-thirds of the Court was in favour of throwing Tokugawa Shigeshige off the 'throne'.

It was quite a predicament for our dear gentle Shigeshige-sama.

These blabbering officials may seem surprised, but a majority of them were well-aware of what was going to happen. Obviously, not showing an astonished reaction was just as good as telling the world that you are either a Aikake or Hitotsubashi supporter (which again, they obviously received some form of benefit from them), and that is not what conniving officials do in front of their 'beloved' Shogun, which they had 'sworn loyalty' to.

Lord Matsudaira was still kneeling, head bowed, as if he were ashamed of those words that poured out of his mouth.

"You may rise, Lord Matsudaira."

The Court paid a hundred and twenty percent of their attention to the next words of the Shogun. It will decide the success of their 'mission'.

Everyone was tense with anticipation as Matsudaira raised his head, but he made no further moves to stand. It was as if he was asking for forgivesness for his sins by continuing kneeling.

Shigeshige wanted to reach out and pull his friend up personally , but circumstances forbade him from doing so. "I will consider it. Indeed, Lord Aikake has completed many meritorious deeds for the Bakufu, it is time consider a higher position for him which reflects all the contribution he has done."

Not a single official with a shred of intelligence dared to reveal their relieved expressions. That sentence was iron-clad evidence that Aikake will definitely be promoted to a _roju_. However...

"Lord Aikake, are you unharmed? I have received news that your estate manor was attacked by some rather bold Jouishishi last night." Shigeshige smiled. Nobume was a quick gatherer of information. She reported to him early this morning that Sakata-san and his companions had sacked the entire estate manor, bathing the white walls with blood just to rescue their friend. Or rather, a friend which was a slave. Shigeshige for the first time, had lost his composure, his teacup slipping from his fingers after hearing the news. He had tasked Nobume on finding out every single detail on the situation—he wasn't stupid, even he could see that Hijikata/Tenko did not explain everything—probably because of the constraints of time. Finding out that Aikake had hundreds of illegal slaves under him was no small shock.

Meanwhile, that dazzling, concerned smile of a ruler to his subordinate, dazed Aikake for a few seconds.

 _How did he find out so quickly?_ Aikake morphed his face into a customary polite smile, curtly replying to the Shogun with a clipped 'Yes'. Aikake made sure that little information had made its way out of his estate grounds about the attack last night, but even so, the speed at which it reached the Shogun's ear was abnormally fast.

It was like flipping on a switch and the officials went off tweetering again. This was a huge scoop, they haven't heard about it at all. Beside Shigeshige, his uncle coughed a little at the unexpected news. While further down from Shigeshige, a thoughtful frown set into Matsudaira's features. He had a feeling that his cute little Shinsengumi subordinates was definitely involved in it somehow.

Indeed, his cute little subordinates were also right behind the backdrop, listening in on the happenings of the Morning Court.

Aikake blanched as the Daimyo of the Echizen Province leaned in with his garlic breath to question Aikake about the attack.

The Shogun continued, "Lord Aikake, if you need any assistance in investigating the Jouishishi whom wrecked your house, feel free to request for my help. It is a great injustice to you after all. No matter, you musn't be lax with security—it won't happen the second time, will it?" Shigeshige's second meaning was hidden expertly under the folds of 'care and concern', yet the wily old officials could tell what the Shogun was hinting about.

It was a statement of showing who was still in dominion, for Aikake "to request for" the Shogun's help, because the power of a Daimyo was still smaller and lacking in many ways compared to a Shogun's, as shown by the news of the attack which Shigeshige found out before the rest of his Court did. Moreover, Shigeshige was also hinting at the inability of Aikake to protect his estate home from the attack of a few Jouishishi, even to the point of getting his house "wrecked". It was a well hidden satirical comment, to fan the doubts of the officials supporting Aikake—if Aikake couldn't even protect his own house, how would he be able to protect the country if he became the Shogun?

Tokugawa Shigeshige was not the 14th Great Shogun for nothing, even he had learnt a few tricks or two to play the game well enough with his unloyal subjects.

Sadasada coughed once more, not in surprise, but as a reminder to Shigeshige to shut his mouth before he fanned not only the doubts, but also the displeasure towards the Shogun himself for nitpicking at their Lord.

Aikake pinched a tiny bit of cloth in his hands to restrain his anger at the condescension of the Shogun's words, keeping his mask serene. "No it will not, Shogun-sama."

The twists and turns of the words muddled the straightforward mind of Kagura, and she frowned at the whole conversation going on. "Man, my head hurts. Can't they just say it out clearly?" She could get at least half of the meanings thanks to the training she received from magazines on "How To Hint To Your Old Man That You Want A Christmas Present".

Shinpachi was a little slower than the Shinsengumi in understanding the convoluted messages, but he still did his best to help fill in the gaps in Kagura's knowledge.

"Dumbasses will always be dumbasses." Okita muttered under his breath. Without saying, it was directed at Kagura. Kagura didn't want another of their explosive fights to happen and get them all discovered, so she swallowed her anger and carved this moment of insult and hatred down in her long 'revenge-to-be-taken' list.

Soyo-hime had grown up in a political family. These kinds of confusing banters were common occurrences around her household, and so she egged on her brother silently, pumping her fist into the air. "1 for Onii-sama! A big fat egg for Uncle Aikake!" She whispered triumphantly.

"You mean a zero, Hime-sama." Shinpachi corrected her.

"Zeroes look like eggs. Eggs are zeroes. It doesn't matter."

"Shhhhhh..." Hijikata shushed the noisy kids, gesticulating to Sadasada who was whispering to his nephew.

"Lord Aikake's promotion to a _roju_ will be discussed with my Advisor. Are there any more reports?" The Shogun turned to his silent courtiers.

"Shogun-sama, I do think that there is no need for any more consideration. The roju position has been left vacant for some time, it is unacceptable to continue leaving—"

"Lord Panasonic." Shigeshige rose an eyebrow, cutting off the Daimyo of the Inama Province.

"Oi, he totally called him 'Panasonic' right? I didn't hear wrongly right? He called him the electrical appliance brand right?" Kagura nudged Shinpachi in the ribs. Shinpachi for once held back his tsukkomi tendencies and told Kagura to keep quiet.

The other officials of the Court wanted to facepalm right there and then. Hitotsubashi Nodenode glowered silently at the floor as Lord Panasonic stopped short, a little flustered under the cool gaze of the Shogun. Being too impatient might bring about the opposite effect, but apparently Lord Panasonic did not consider that when his eager desire brought him up there.

"Are you questioning my decision?" _Are you questioning my authority? While I'm still in this seat?_

The weight of his mistake slammed into him. Blood drained from Lord Panasonic's face, and he stammered an apology before returning to his seat. The wave of oppressive authority swept across the Court, dragging down the atmosphere with it.

"Wow. That was cool." Shinpachi breathed out. He had never seen Shigeshige look and sound so suave at that moment, compared to all the times when all he showed was his tighty whities or his little soldier down there. "I guess Shogun-sama is really the Shogun after all."

"What do you take Onii-sama for? He's the coolest Shogun in all of history." Soyo came to her brother's defense.

"Court is dismissed." Shigeshige stood up, his servants and Nobume flanking him immediately as he turned and exited the Court Hall through a backdoor. Sadasada followed moments later.

The mutters and shuffling of feet increased in volume as each official took their leave. Matsudaira was still kneeling in front of the Shogun's seat.

A final rustle of silk—and Matsudaira was alone. The vast Hall stretched behind him.

"I'm sorry." Matsudaira spoke to the empty hall.

Hijikata never saw Pops being sorry ever in his life. 'Sorry' did not exist in Matsudaira's dictionary. He never heard the old man apologise to anyone.

Matsudaira suddenly seemed to have aged, his wrinkles deepening, his gray hair getting whiter every second. His sunglasses hid his eyes, but his voice couldn't hide the guilt and anger at himself for siding with the enemy, helpless as he may when his beloved family was being held hostage.

A servant stepped up front into the field of Hijikata's vision, padding over to Matsudaira. "Matsudaira-sama." The servant called out softly. "You are going to miss the visiting time for Kuriko-sama if we do not leave soon."

"Mm." With the help of his servant, Lord Matsudaira straightened, rubbing his sore kneecaps as he walked towards the entrance.

Hijikata sighed. Looks like the invincible God of Destruction was just another old man after all.


	30. It's Always The Quiet Ones

The Jouishishi broke away and headed off into their territory, leaving Katsura with Gintoki, Tsukuyo, and the two injured Rae and Saito.

No one talked, focusing on getting to Yoshiwara—the only place safe enough for them to rest.

They flew at light speed to Hinowa's shop, their bloody appearances scaring the shit out of the customers and courtesans in Yoshiwara. The sun had finally gotten its ass out of its bed, shining down upon the world with its godly rays.

"Gin-san! Tsukki! Katsura-san? And...?" She trailed off as she squinted at the incomplete orange afro man, unsure of his identity. Hinowa wheeled out to meet the pathetic party thundering down the street as if hell beasts were hot on their heels. Regardless of the new face, she was sure Katsura had never ventured down to Yoshiwara before.

Hinowa's face brightened with realisation. _Ah. That's right. He was on standby._

"What happened?" Hinowa took in the four—oh there was a fifth on Gintoki's back—all soaked in blood, little cuts and scratches everywhere. The orange afro man sustained a graver injury, his face pasty white with all the blood he was losing.

"Let's go in, quick." Hinowa ushered them in.

Hinowa laid out extra futon for the unmoving rock—namely Rae, and ordered the other three to wash up while she cleaned the rock. Faced with the nagging mum, the three kids grudgingly obeyed and trudged to the shower with extra clothes in hand. Saito was given another futon to rest on, dropping into unconsciousness the moment he laid down. Hinowa tended to him first, cleaning and bandaging his wounds. Blood stained the clean futon but Hinowa did not seem to mind one bit.

The Sun of Yoshiwara then prepared a hot tub of water and began wiping down the Rock.

"Hello. My name is Hinowa." The courtesan smiled brightly at the blank woman. The lack of response did not deter Hinowa from making further conversation. "Can I call you Shiro-chan? Your hair is really beautiful. A little bit of the odd side of the natural colouring, just like Gin-san, but being weird is good, don't you agree?"  
(Shiro = white)

Rae was still partly human, and like any other humans, she blinks. Hinowa however, took her reflex contraction of muscle as a reaction, began firing off, talking about anything and everything, from the courtesan owning the shop next door to her own son Seita.

"Ara, Gin-san, done already?" It had only been less than 10 minutes. She thought that Gintoki would take longer than usual to scrub off all the dried blood from his skin. Katsura came out of the shower seconds later.

"Man, how many years has it been and you're still faster than me." Katsura grumbled.

"Blame your long hair."

"There are some tea at the table, help yourself, and—" Hinowa tone turned stern, fixing her blue gaze on the two man-child, "Tell me what happened. In detail."

Gintoki scratched at his mop of wet curls. "Can you lend me your kitchen first? I need some sugar."

* * *

The Shogun called Kagura and the others for a meeting to inform them about the events of the Morning Court.

It was unnecessary since the whole group had been eavesdropping on it illegally without him knowing.

Maizou did the most of the talking, his small eyes squinting in suspicion as he noticed the princess doing some excessive nodding to his words.

"The edict will be conferred upon Lord Aikake by tomorrow morning."

"By tomorrow? ! That's a bit of a hurry isn't it?" Hijikata—in Tenko's falsetto voice—exclaimed.

Shigeshige shook his head. "Hijikata-san, Okita-san," That earned a surprised grunt and a blink from them respectively, but they didn't interrupt the Shogun. They expected their cover to be blown sooner or later, but in just a span of a day...perhaps their disguises needed some improving. "Even if we hand it down to him later, it is just delaying the inevitable. My uncle and I have prepared for this moment, but..."

"But?" The five leaned in simultaneously, smelling something intresting.

"I have different plans from my uncle."

The five leaned in closer.

Shigeshige sipped at his tea.

"…"

"Just tell us already!" Shinpachi's outburst was not rewarded by any reaction from the Shogun.

Letting out a satisfied sigh from the warm tea, Shigeshige placed his cup down. "My uncle plans to uproot the enitre Court and rid it of our enemies—to replace them with new ones—or to simply put it: to kill off all of them." The kindhearted Shogun's face turned somber at that.

"All of them? It sounds impossible." Hijikata scoffed.

"Sadasada-sama has his methods." Maizou replied for the Shogun. His tone bore a chill which brooked no argument. Even the stump of his left arm ached at the memory. He himself had seen it during Sadasada's reign. The crafty old man wiped out the top ranking officials with just the beauty of a single woman.

"I want to convince them back to my side. And I want to carry out my plan without my uncle knowing. If they can change sides so easily with just a few bribes and sweet talk, they can turn against Aikake again too. I don't want lives being taken when it can solved peacefully." Shigeshige frowned a little. He always didn't like that his uncle was too merciless.

"Therefore, I need your help, Kagura-san." Shigeshige smiled at the red-head who pointed at herself in bafflement.

* * *

"Oh-ho! This is a rare case! Half Siren? In most of the Amanto I have treated, this is the first time I have seen a half—and the second time I ever treated a Siren. He was quite a looker, I would say." The doctor tapped his pen against the clipboard.

Otae glared at Gintoki, Tsukuyo and the disguised Zurako—she spared Hinowa from her death glare. "What is this?" Otae whispered fiercely, "What have you troublemakers been up to?"

Otae had gone on an unexpected visit to Yoshiwara to offer Tsukuyo and the pair of mother and son her new creation: egg pudding (To be more accurate: dark matter burnt egg pudding). Instead, Otae bumped into the group panicking over a Rae Rock who collasped suddenly. And so, all of them rushed to the hospital in a flurry, with Katsura bringing the unconscious Saito along. Saito was arranged for a bed neighbour to Rae's after an hour spent in the Emergency Department.

"I didn't know she was half Amanto!" Gintoki whispered back. Hinowa's eyebrows had disappeared into her hairline.

"Doctor, is she okay?" Tsukuyo asked, glancing at the gaunt face of the sleeping Rae.

"She's in horrible shock. She hasn't ingested anything the past 24 hours—we'll put her on drip. Also, I recommend finding a therapist for her condition, it's very unhealthy for her," The doctor fiddled with the buttons on a beeping machine beside the bed, "We have put her in a medicinally induced coma for now, she will wake up...when she feels like it."

"When she feels like it? Oi, Doctor, I'm really doubting your degree here." Gintoki eyeballed the doctor menancingly.

"I cannot make an accurate diagnosis on her since I do not have enough information on her kind." The doctor sidestepped Gintoki's stare. "If she was fully human, the amount of stress she put on her body would have killed her. Currently, the only thing keeping her heart beating is her Siren blood, repairing and keeping the conditions blanced."

Gintoki's brows pulled into a frown. The doctor didn't delve further into all the difficult technicalities, and after bidding a goodbye, he left the room.

"Well? Care enough to explain?" Otae tucked Rae in, pulling the blanket higher. She studied Saitou for a moment before tucking him in as well.

Gintoki mussed his hair irritatedly. What the hell is with people asking him to explain everything? He waved at Tsukuyo to speak for him instead.

A kunai stabbed Gintoki in the head.

* * *

Gintoki's temporary cell phone rang. Hijikata had given him an extra one he owned for a more convenient way of communicating. Gintoki had almost forgotten he had the phone.

He fished out the phone from his pocket to see Okita's number flashing on the cracked screen.

_Wait. Cracked?_

_Shit._ Hijikata had warned him that if the phone was damaged in anyway, Gintoki would have to pay for the repairs.

"Yo, Danna." Okita's voice came through the speakers.

"I'm shitting. Hurry up and say whatever you need to say." Talking on the phone while in the washroom was awkward enough already.

"We will be staying in the castle until tomorrow, Shogun-sama needs China for his scheming—you'll know by tomorrow, I'm too lazy to explain. How is it over at your side?"

"We're in the hospital. Rae's in shock and half dying." Gintoki took a deep breath, feeling the undigested matter nudge its way out. "Your Wolfro Captain is alive and safe. Mild hypothermia and a large gash in his side but otherwise still fine..."

* * *

Okita snapped his phone shut, glancing over to his side where Kagura was having her measurements taken by a team of seamstresses.

"China, you have a half-amanto friend, did you know?"

"Huh?" Kagura was buried in pins and swathes of silk, her face barely visible above the gigantic headdress resting on her hair. A seamstress folded and flipped the corners of the ostentatious garment, creating complicated yet complimentary layers of colours—which both Okita and Kagura couldn't understand and didn't care.

"Your Rae friend is half Siren and half human."

"Siren-aru? I've never heard of that race before..." The rest of her words were swallowed by the headdress slipping down her face.

"Shush! We have to get this done by tomorrow! Now lift your arms up higher!" The head seamstress adjusted her glasses and poked another pin into its place. Kagura mumbled her protest as the pin poked her skin.

Seeing Kagura in her ridiculous outfit was entertaining, but not **_that_** entertaining. Okita, bored out of his mind, decided to leave the room and take a walk around the whole castle.

And to plant traps and secure the weaker spots of the castle stronghold, as commanded by his Shogun.

* * *

Night arrived. Clouds of storm and wind rolled in as well.

Nobume crept in the shadows of the dark hallway, her footsteps masked by the thundering sound of rain.

The edict had been reviewed and approved by the Advisor, Shogun, and Chancellor. Now it was stowed away on the front desk of the Head Minister of the Board of Civil Appointments, who was in charge of welcoming the new _roju._

The room was pitch black. No one was in sight.

Sliding open the shoji soundlessly, the trained ex-assassin slipped in like a snake, her senses trying to detect any shift in the surroundings. She waited for a few seconds, before moving to the front desk.

Flipping on a tiny credit card lightbulb, the small circle of light illuminated just enough of her front to let her see the intended scroll sitting quietly on the table.

Nobume reached into her kimono, her fingers curling around another identical scroll—with the same exact patterns and the same red stamps of the Advisor, Shogun and Chancellor. She had stolen the stamps from the Chancellor and Sadasada and inked the identical scroll with their seals. The Shogun of course stamped his own seal willingly.

She laid out the identical scroll, copied the contents of the original one over—even the handwriting—but with a slight change in the name, then switched the two.

She was glad for her excellent eyesight as she flipped the card light-bulb close and sneaked out in a fluid motion, making sure that the room looked the same as it was before.

Now she only had to wait till tomorrow's Morning Court to commence.


	31. Sometimes, lists are easier to write and understand

The officials rose and bowed from their cushions as Sadasada and Shigeshige entered.

Shigeshige could detect the slight change in their demeanor. It was the same old greediness in their eyes—coveting the all powerful seat of the Shogun—but there was delight mixed in it today.

Delight in watching the Shogun fall from his high pedestal. Starting from Aikake's promotion.

Their impatience wasn't buried as deep under their respectful mask today as well.

Shinpachi and the others were peeping in again through the secret room. The servants were told to keep it a secret after some bribing yesterday, and today was no exception. They even offered to help cook up some lies and distractions to prevent other servants from finding out and reporting them to the Shogun.

"Rise." Shigeshige commanded, taking his seat. The officials lifted their heads then took their seats after the Shogun settled down.

Without further ado, the Shogun waved at the Head Minister of the Board of Civil Appointments, who eagerly passed the scroll over to a servant. Maizou took the scroll from the servant, unwinding the string binding it.

Aikake's gray eyes shifted from the scroll to Sadasada and the Shogun, the hint of a smirk pulling up the corners of his lips.

Today was his day.

Maizou began reading out the edict, but Aikake was lost in his own world, already imagining the scene where the Shogun would bow down to him, the grand sight of all the court officials under his feet—and most importantly, the head of Sadasada being tossed to the guard dogs.

"...let us welcome—" Aikake began to lift himself up, "—our new roju, Lady Kagura of the Yato Clan."

Aikake froze.

An official went out of his way to dig his ear, flicking off the ear wax off his little finger, wondering whether he had heard wrongly.

Sadasada's fist was clenched so tight his knuckled turned white.

Matsudaira's sunglasses almost fell off from its perch on his nose.

Kagura swept in, finery and all, looking like a real noble lady of the court.

She had already received the edict earlier in the morning, lest she get mobbed by the officials and dragged out if she was to accept it in the front of the Court.

"Good morning to y'all." Kagura grinned, the kanzashi (hair ornaments) on her head clinking softly as she inclined her head ever so slightly.

Despite her grandiose appearance, all Kagura wanted to was throw off her accessories and rip the silk apart. The shoes were pinching her toes, the elephantine headdress felt like a shark chomping down on her head, with its teeth acting in the place of all the pins burrowing into her scalp. She vaguely wondered how human women could stand wearing all the finery if she, a Yato, was already straining under the weight.

 ** _Lady_** Kagura was guided to her seat and seconds right after she made herself comfortable, the Court went off in a verbal 'KABLOOM'.

"SHOGUN-SAMA! T-THIS—"

"SHE IS A CHILD! A GIRL! IMPOSSIBLE!"

"SHOGUN-SAMA! PLEASE RETRACT YOUR EDICT! A MERE GIRL! SHE—"

They abandoned all manners, scrambling up front with their shaku* waving wildly in the air like madmen.

Kagura resisted the urge to pick her nose and sprawl her legs out on the cushion.

"Shigeshige-san. This is not a funny joke. What are you doing?" Sadasada whispered agitatedly. He had dropped even the honorific title of addressing his nephew as the Shogun in the presence of the Court. His beady eyes were arrowing the fidgeting Kagura; disgust, anger and shock all rolled into one threatening glare.

"It is what it is. Lady Kagura is our new roju, and we **_will_** welcome her with what is expected of us." Shigeshige answered his uncle and the officials together, his booming voice silencing the Court.

"B-but—Shogun-sama! You cannot be serious!" Lord Mitsubishi protested.

"Shogun-sama." Aikake shoved his way to the front, bowing politely as he spoke. His voice contorted with anger, contempt flashing in his eyes for a brief second. "May I know the reason behind your appointment of **_Lady_** Kagura?"

"The author wanted to."

Everyone decided to treat his words as air rushing past their ears. Kagura cackled softly under her breath.

Before the Shogun could elaborate on his statement, Kagura spoke up—or rather, yelled, to grab the attention of the rowdy officials starting up again.

"SHUT UP! LOOK HERE-ARU!"

The officials turned before realising they were being commanded by a "mere girl".

"If you continue yapping away like this, I'm going to bash—uh—I'm going to do something drastic to you! It's grating my sensitive ears-aru."

An old official with a salt-and-pepper beard clutched his chest, seeming about to act out another one of those korean dramas' cardiac arrest scene. "Y-You impertinent little brat! Who...who gave you the right...to speak?" He wheezed.

"The Shogun and I did. She can speak, as the new roju." Sadasada came to Kagura's defense, earning a small smile from said lady.

The officials paused for a second in disbelief before they started babbling again. Sadasada was the last person they expected to go along with this controversial appointment of the roju.

"Calm yourselves down. Please take your seats, then I will explain." Shigeshige motioned to the empty cushion seats thrown haphazardly around the hall in the great stampede to reach the Shogun and express their displeasure.

An order was an order. As unhappy as they might be, there was still a hierarchy to follow.

"Lady Kagura's father is Umibozu. The strongest sweeper of the universe. I believe it is in Edo's best interests to garner him over to our side." As the Shogun spoke, a screen was wheeled out along with a projector. "As proof, we have contacted Umibozu-dono."

The screen flickered to life and a fuzzy projection of Umibozu appeared. "The signal is horrible...morning...almost night here..." His voice crackled from a speaker that was wheeled in along. Kagura stood up and gave the projector a few taps.

The image became sharper and clearer, and so did Umibozu's voice. "Kagura! Tell papi if anyone bullies you! I'll destroy their house." On the screen, the worried father brandished his umbrella aggressively.

"Papi!" Kagura grinned. She missed her father dearly. Next time she'll get Soyo-chan to get her another one of these projectors thingamajig. The highest government of each sovereign nation was given the means of contacting important figures of the world, one such as Umibozu himself.

"Ooh! My daughter is looking very pretty today!" Umibozu returned the smile.

He peered closer at the screen, noticing the court officials gathered behind his daughter, their mouths opening and closing like dumb fishes. "If any of you balding old potatoes dare touch my daughter," Umibozu raised the device he was holding, so the camera angle showed the pile of smoking, decapitated aliens behind him, "I'll make sure that you **_will_** join them." Umibozu fired a bullet into the pile.

An alien head twitched under the impact of the bullet. Seconds later, the pile combusted into flames.

The officials paled under Umibozu's glower; the shadows thrown over his face by the sizzling fire made it even more menancing. Aikake felt a nerve pop out under his temple.

He was irritated. Irritatedly livid. The shaku in his hand snapped clean into two, falling to the floor.

"Rest assured, Umibozu-dono, your daughter is in safe hands." The Shogun diverted the worried father's attention over to him. "Thank you for cooperating."

"S—" The screen became distorted and pixelated suddenly, and Umibozu's voice got cut off. "...going now...Kagura...bye..."

Before the image completely disappeared, he was last seen waving a goodbye. Kagura's smile melted off her face as the screen turned blank. The conversation was so short. She wanted to see more of her father.

Kagura returned to her seat, tuning out the rest of the court session where it was mostly vicious arguments between the supporting officials of the Shogun and ones who had defected to Aikake's side.

"Newly appointed members can only be terminated after 2 months of duty!"

"But this is impossible for a little brat like—"

"Watch your mouth, Lord Casio!"

"We need the Yato clan's help! Umibozu is an influential figure...maybe we can get them to help us against—"

"You know that defeating **_them_** is inconceivable!"

"Shogun-sama! I will not assent to this preposterous decision! Please reconsider it!"

"Sadasada-sama! Please convince Shogun-sama to retract his edict!"

"The Shogun is always right."

"Shogun-sama! The position was promised to Lord Aikake!"

Kagura patted the spot behind her, comforted by the familiar bulge underneath her cushion. Weapons were not allowed in the company of the Shogun, but he made an exception for her and her umbrella.

Kagura stared at the shiny heads before her tiredly, pasting googly eyes over her eyelids as she took a nap.

* * *

Sadasada sank into the soft floor seat in his room, a courtesan attaching herself almost immediately to him.

"My Lord~ how was your day?" The courtesan asked simperingly, dragging a finger lightly up Sadasada's clothed chest.

Sadasada's expression didn't change, but his grip on the courtesan's waist turned excruciating. The fragile woman gave a yelp, pushing herself off the chest of the Advisor.

She cowered into the corner, afraid that her wrong question had angered the man. She pulled her kimono collar closer together in a futile effort to keep Sadasada's incoming bruising slaps from hurting her.

Thankfully, the old Lord only ordered her to get out, sparing her from the beating she expected. The courtesan picked up her skirts and almost stumbled over her feet in her haste to exit the room.

He should have known when the Court's head seamstress was called in yesterday. It had been made by his niece so he didn't suspect a single thing. What a clever move. He was old, but he wasn't stupid. His own nephew actually dared to scheme against him. Not only that, his nephew was using him— ** _manipulating_** him to go along with his plan. He dared! Sadasada felt a sudden loss of control over the court he had been ruling for half of his lifetime—and he didn't like this feeling. In fact, he hated it.

Deep under, he was rather proud that his soft, useless nephew was able to think of such a plan. He never expected that nephew of his to possess such a brain. Nevertheless, the matter at hand was to get rid of the girl and that Aikake brat.

It was definitely easier than getting rid of Aikake if he had been promoted. No one would miss a powerless little girl if she just disappeared one day—with the exception of her troublesome father. Her father...hmph...he'll think of an excuse to pacify that Yato after he eliminated his target first.

Sadasada was forced to play along to Shigeshige after he had weighed the pros and cons in that short amount of time during the Morning Court session.

 **Pro 1** : The officials will be more hesitant in their attempt to try and get rid of Kagura. Sadasada still holds a significant amount of power which can screw them up and over a hundred times if they dare touch a person working under Sadasada's protection. The threat by Umibozu helped a little as well.

 **Pro 2** : A newly appointed member can only be reconsidered and terminated after 2 months of duty, and Aikake clearly knows that he cannot wait this long. 2 months is long enough for Sadasada to wipe out his whole family tree.

 **Pro 3** : Due to Sadasada's protection of the little brat, Aikake and Hitotsubashi will not be able to throw Kagura off the position easily. Aikake will be caught between a rock and a hard place. However if Sadasada had made his stand clear that he did not agree to this appointment, Kagura would be sure to 'mysteriously disappear' in the next few days.

 **Pro 4:** Letting Kagura take the position meant that Aikake was still stuck as a Daimyo, and still will have lesser resources and power to use to his advantage. An easier prey for Sadasada.

 **Pro 5** : After Aikake is taken care of, pushing the little girl off the roju seat will be less taxing than using all sorts of trickery and underhanded methods to kill Aikake off. And after that, "draining the swamp" of the defected officials will be a piece of cake too.

Considering all of that, it would be absolute idiotic of Sadasada to not agree to Kagura's appointment. Shigeshige had really thought through this. He had played right into his nephew's hands.

Sadasada leaned back further into the cushion, gesturing at a servant to hand him a steaming cup of tea. A slow sneer spread over his face.

His nephew was still too green if he thought he could stop Aikake.


	32. The thrill of moving into a new house is always great, ain't it?

Kagura tore off the ceremonial robe the moment she stepped into the room, kicking the servants out at the same time.

She was almost on her last piece of kimono before a bland voice caught her attention.

"Oi China. Do you do this often?"

Kagura cursed in her mind. She totally forgot about the bastard she was sharing the room with. "Do what-aru? Get out. And call the servants in-aru." Kagura realised she needed some extra hands to help wrestle away all the ornaments and the headdress in her hair.

"Strip in front of men." Okita continued, polishing his katana with care.

"Oh? You curious-aru?" Kagura grinned heinously. "Such an out-of-character question for you-aru."

"Just wondering if I need to arrest you for sullying the eyes and causing brain damage of other men from your ugliness."

"Hoho. Real funny-aru. Now get out, I need to visit my army."

"Right. You're Lady Kagura now, aren't you? Real classy. But a pig will forever be a pig. You're just a wolf in sheep's clothing."

Kagura hissed at Okita, banging open the metal shoji. "I don't have time to play with a weeny little boy looking for attention." She pulled a gold pin from her hair, throwing it with amazing accuracy at Okita's eye.

The pin lodged itself into the wooden wall.

"Tch. Missed your stupid eye-aru."

Kagura stalked off into a separate room, servants trailing after her. Okita glanced at the solid gold pin, pulling it out from the wall.

"Hm. Could sell for some extra pocket change."

* * *

Being a roju was great.

No.

It was fucking awesome.

The Royal Treasurer read out a list of items bestowed upon her after the Morning Court, and Kagura almost went crazy at the wealth at her fingertips.

"An army of 20,000 men, a pay of 1 million yen per month, to be used in domestic and military expense..."

Kagura almost cartwheeled out of the room at the burst of joy that coursed through her. But no, she had to stay kneeled and listen to the Treasurer read the long ass scroll till it was finished. Stars and money signs broke the dam and burst out of her eyes.

The Treasurer glanced at the sparkling girl in front of him, giving a light cough before resuming. "An estate is granted to the roju, in—"

"AN ESTATE-ARU?!"

The Treasurer glared at Kagura to stay quiet before he finished reading. He wanted to finish this job quickly and return to his room to catch up on the latest Boku no Hero Academia episode.

Kagura couldn't contain her excitement any longer, springing out of the room as the Treasurer and servants tried to stop her. "BRING ME TO MY ARMY! AND MY HOUSE-ARU!"

The gaggle of servants ran after the red-haired girl exasperatedly, guiding her with shouts of "That way, my lady! Wrong way, my lady!"

And so, Lady Kagura had a change of clothes into her regular outfit—which was heavily modified by the head seamstress. She almost had a fit when she saw Kagura's ratty old clothes, and switched it out with silk ones. And slapped on a lot of embroidered designs as well. The hair buns (penis cups)—well, they were now lined with real gold thread.

Kagura came to a stop at the army training ground. Men were swinging wooden staffs to the orders of the military instructor, sweating profusely under the sun.

"This is my army now?" Kagura asked, in awe at the sheer number of men currently training on the grounds. It stretched out at least more than 3 football courts.

"My Lady, this is less than a quarter of your army." A servant replied.

"Oh man! I hit the jackpot-aru! Gin-chan will be so jealous. **_UWHAHAHAHA_**!" Kagura spread her arms wide, looking every bit like a dictator savouring the cheers of his men.

"My Lady." The military instructor paused the training, walking up slowly to his supposed boss. Men lowered their wooden staffs, eyes following each step the instructor took up the stairs. Their eyes shifted to the girl they were supposed to serve under, sizing her outfit and stature up.

Kagura's wild grin faltered slightly. These men were belittling her. She could see the scornful glares and distasteful looks thrown at her. She couldn't blame them for having to suddenly accept someone as young as her to be their general—but being disparaged because she was female was an arrow to her pride.

"Yo, instructor. Having a good day-aru?" Kagura tilted her head slightly, making sure she was the perfect picture of an innocent, fragile doll with her umbrella.

"Yes, My Lady. I am training the men now. If you do not have business with us—if I may boldly advise you so, to stay away from the—hng?!"

The metal tip of the umbrella had shaved off the tip of his straw sandal, grazing his skin as a hole opened up in his tabi (toed socks). The military instructor sucked in a breath at the sudden attack and at the terrifying control this seemingly innocent child had. The skin on the tip of his big toe was tingling.

Men on the training ground turned to each other, asking those who saw what happened to explain their shocked reactions.

Cold sweat slid down the instructor's face. This little brat was trying to unsettle him huh? He wouldn't give this brat the satisfaction of seeing him at a loss for words in front of his soldiers.

"M-my Lady...please—"

"Wanna go for a round-aru? I'm really excited about my coronation today, so I'm looking for somewhere to release all this pent-up excitement-aru." Kagura cut him off, plucking out her umbrella and casually putting it across her shoulder.

"Wh—what? My Lady, I cannot possibly fight against you—"

"Shut up-aru. This is an order. Actually, let's make it a test, let me see how strong you guys are-aru." Kagura shouted across the training ground. She ignored the incredulous looks given by the soldiers, yelling out once again, "PICK UP YOUR GODDAMN STICKS-ARU!"

Stunned, the men hesitated before raising up their staffs.

"I can't be in the sun too long...so ten minutes. Time me, and signal me when ten minutes is up-aru." Kagura turned to a confuddled servant. "Got it-aru?"

"My Lady! There's at least a hundred men here!"

"HERE I COME-ARU!"

* * *

The servant pressed 'Stop' on the timer, gasping at the unbelievable sight of Kagura's masterpiece.

"T-TIME RECORDED I-IS 5 MINUTES AND 12 SECONDS!"

Kagura walked back up the stairs, wiping away the sweat collected on her brow. She opened her umbrella and took a look at the timer. "Oh, did I improve recently? Can't remember-aru."

"EVERYONE! GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP-ARU!" Kagura swivelled and yelled out to the groaning men. "NOW!"

The instructor pulled himself up, his face beaten black and blue. "That is...impressive...my lady..."

"Of course I am-aru. I'm your boss." Kagura scoffed. "IF ANY OF YOU OUT THERE THINK THAT YOU CAN BEAT MY RECORD, FEEL FREE TO CHALLENGE ME-ARU! IF NOT, ACCEPT THE FACT THAT I AM YOUR GENERAL, AND SERVE ME AS SUCH, YOU DICKHEADS!"

Silence swept through the training ground as the men stared up at their new General with swollen faces.

"UNDERSTOOD-ARU?!"

"Y-yes! My lady!"

"HUH? I CAN'T HEAR YOU-ARU!"

"YES, MY LADY!"

"By the way, Instructor, you really need to step up your game. Y'all are weak little pieces of shit-aru. I just tapped them on the head and they drop to the ground like friggin leaves-aru!"

"I will train them harder, my lady!"

* * *

Kagura stretched her arms across the cushion backrest, crossing a bended knee over her other leg. Having 200,000 men under her control was thrilling enough—and now there is an even better privilege to being a roju. qiao jiao

She had a room the size of 32 tatami mats. All to herself.

Kagura laid spreadeagled on the cushion, then rolled around the whole room, cooing at the sheer size of the room. It was so spacious compared to her suffocating cupboard. Moreover, she could cuddle with Sadaharu at night now.

Kagura came to a grinding halt by a boot stepping on her midsection.

"Oi, Kagura." A snot was flicked off, landing right on her forehead. "Sharing is caring, so won't you give this poor old man of yours some money?"

A tick mark popped up and Kagura pushed Gintoki's boot off her, causing the samurai to tip backwards and fall onto his bottom. "Address me as 'My Lady', you sleaze bag-aru." Kagura proceeded to wipe off Gintoki's and her snot back onto his shirt.

Gintoki choked with laughter at the title, "My Lady? HAhahHahaHahHahHHaaAHAH! Unbelievable!"

"Gin-san! Wait up!" Shinpachi ran in, with a crowd of their friends right behind. Otae, Kyuubei, Sa-chan, Okita, Hijikata, even Tama and the two old hags came. Katsura came along in a disguise. Soyo-hime tagged along as well after getting permission from her brother.

"Congratulations, Kagura." Otose gave a proud smile at the Yato, a cigarette dangling between her wrinkled fingers.

"I remember only inviting Soyo-chan, Gin-chan and Patchie here." Kagura glared at the unwanted guests, directing her particular gaze to Okita who was admiring the interior of the mansion.

"The news of a Yato child becoming our new roju has swept across the whole of Edo, you can't expect us to not come and visit her." Kyuubei patted Kagura on the shoulder. "Congratulations, Kagura-chan."

"Speaking of which, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING?! HUH?! I JUST HEARD THAT RAE LANDED HERSELF INTO THE HOSPITAL! YOU BUNCH OF TROUBLEMAKERS!" Otose hit Gintoki on the head, the smack so loud it echoed thrice in the large room. "AND NOW WHY IS KAGURA-CHAN A ROJU?! WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN DOING BEHIND MY BACK?!"

"That's right! And you didn't even tell us that Kagura is filthy rich now!" Catherine echoed.

"Gin-san! And you've been gallivanting around with this bitch Tsukuyo?! My heart is severely wounded—"

"Kagura-sama, congratulations on being inaugurated as a high member of the Court—"

"Leader! You are a true leader now! However, this is rather confusing as I, Katsu—don, am fighting against the...no! I truly support the Bakufu!"

"Kagura-chan, your house is rather near to mine! I can come here—"

"SHUT UP! STOP TALKING ALL AT ONCE!" Shinpachi threw out his hands, effectively ceasing the vomit of words and screeching voices.

"I don't know how it happened. It just happened. I only knew that Kagura became a rich ass this morning too." Gintoki finally spoke up. "I'm as lost as you are."

Hijikata knocked his katana's hilt loudly against the wooden shoji, attracting all eyes to him.

"Oh? Who the hell is this?" Sa-chan looked at the female-disguised Hijikata up and down, before an image clicked into her mind.

"I'm Hijikata, Vice-Commander of the Shinsengumi! I've been behind you guys all this time!"

"You pale before my eyes, compared to the radiance of Gin-san." Sa-chan turned to Gintoki, stretching out a hand to take Gintoki's. The white samurai whipped his hand into the safety of his kimono.

Hijikata decided that this bunch of looneys were detrimental to his health as he felt his blood pressure spike up. "I'll update everyone on the situation. It is rather convenient that you guys came to visit Kagura. Or else we would have to source each of you out."

He made a move to seat down on the floor cushion which Kagura was lounging in moments ago, but was stopped by a purple umbrella.

"Who do you think you are-aru? I'm the roju, tax-robber. Your seat is in the manure pile of the stables-aru." Kagura scowled, plopping down into the cushion.

Hijikata wisely kept silent and decided to sit someplace else.

Gintoki didn't give a shit and squeezed Kagura off the cushion, evoking another round of endless arguing.

Hijikata silently wondered if there was a rope somewhere so he could hang himself right there and then.

* * *

"Imai-san."

Nobume scuffed her sole lightly against the tatami mat to show that she was listening.

"Do you think...that I'm a useless Shogun?"

Nobume kept silent for a few moments, then replied a quiet 'No' to Shigeshige's back.

Shigeshige let out a breathy laugh. As comforting Nobume's answer was, he knew deep down that he was useless.

He stared at the winter night sky, mesmerised by the brilliance of the waxing moon. The shower of light on his face was so pure and unsullied. Compared to the moon, Shigeshige felt like a black, putrid stain. Living in this castle was so tiresome. Being the Shogun was tiresome, even though he loved his citizens very much. Fending off attacks and jabs from his own courtiers was tiresome. Politics was tiresome.

However, he was rather enjoying the company of his friends in the castle, even if they didn't come here to have a vacation with him. They were like a breath of fresh air to this dark and depressing house.

Shigeshige wrapped his cold fingers around the warm cup of tea.

"Let's just hope that he would stay quiet."

But they both knew that it was wishful thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Shigeshige's plan gives Aikake a chance to stop and think, to ask himself whether he wants to continue.


	33. Violence is the answer to everything!

A warning siren pierced through the night, joustling the citizens of Edo from their sleep.

A mother hugged her child tightly to her bosom, rushing to close her open windows and double check her locked doors.

"Mamma...what is that noise?" The child asked, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"Shh. It's fine...here, go back to sleep." The mother cast a worried glance outside the window in the direction of the castle.

Across the country, families alike prepared for the worst, men rushing out in their nightwear to gasp at the brightly illuminated castle of the Shogun.

Sounds of cannons being fired and the clashing of metal against metal echoed grimly throughout the country, leaving citizens fearing at the unknown.

Otose, Catherine and Tama-chan sat in the bar, drinking away their worries on this fateful night.

Otae scanned the castle in the distance from the safety of her own home, praying for her friends to return unharmed.

Civil war began, four days after the coronation of the first female roju.

* * *

Tsukuyo jerked awake at the loud blast of the warning siren, lifting her sleepy head up to see Saito sitting up across the room. She blinked, remembering that she was currently visiting Rae in the hospital.

He grabbed a notepad, scribbling furiously. _My wounds are almost healed now. I must go help and fight._

Without a second word, he slid out of his bed and took his uniform into the bathroom to change. Tsukuyo didn't stop him. She wanted to set off immediately too, and take her revenge on the bastard who did this to Rae. She reminded Tsukuyo too much of the courtesans in Yoshiwara before it was liberated. Tsukuyo wanted to protect Rae under the law of the Hyakka, to give her the comfort of safety in a place with no escape. To save her from the darkness and sorrow ripping her apart from within.

Tsukuyo straightened, looking into blank green eyes which darkened with each day passing. Rae sat there silently in the muted light of the moonlight shining through the windows, blinking but unseeing.

"Rae." Tsukuyo called, a part of her still hoping the white-haired woman would respond. "...Aikake has begun his attack on the Shogun. It's a war. We're going to the castle to help."

Empty dark green eyes continued staring at the opposite wall.

"I'll come back to visit you." Tsukuyo promised.

Saito exited out of the bathroom at that moment, giving them a hasty bow before charging out of the room. Tsukuyo turned to follow Saito out, but was stopped by a light tug on her sleeve. Her heart jumped to her throat, swivelling around to see Rae's slender hand on her sleeve.

"R-Rae...you're..." Tsukuyo choked out, disbelief and delight filling her.

Rae's blank expression didn't change. Her soulless eyes were still the same. The only difference was the moving hand on Tsukuyo's sleeve.

The Shinigami Tayuu's jubilation turned into confusion as she watched Rae release the hold on her sleeve and raise both hands, stuffing her index fingers into her ears.

"Hurt." Rae whispered.

"Hurt? What? Where? Do your ears hurt?" Tsukuyo scanned Rae's face, trying to find any signs of the thing causing Rae's pain. "Should I call the nurse?"

Rae dropped her hands, reverting back to her motionless stare on the wall.

"Rae?" Tsukuyo's confusion doubled. "I'll go call the nur—" A distant boom cut her off, and she froze. The war. She had forgotten about it.

Another round of cannons firing jolted Tsukuyo into motion. "I—I'll find the nurse before I leave! I'll come back!"

* * *

Shigeshige stood in his room, staring grimly at the front as servants strapped armour pieces onto him, tightening the knots.

"My Lord." Nobume bowed, still in her usual outfit, with the exception of a few extra daggers hidden in her coat. "Aikake, Matsudaira and Hitotsubashi have brought their armies. The officials whom have been supporting Aikake have volunteered their private army as well. Total number...around half a million."

A servant's hand visibly shook while tightening the knot on the Shogun's helmet at the frightening number.

"I gave him a chance." Shigeshige said to no one in particular, his voice saddled with disappointment and frustration. "I had hopes that he would take it. It is truly regrettable that we have to sacrifice many more lives."

Nobume was somewhat secretly pleased that Aikake's ambitions hadn't stopped him from starting a coup d'etat. She was thirsting for her blade to sink into some human flesh and watch blood spill across the grassy grounds.

"Shogun-sama, your horse is ready." A servant dipped into a bow, sliding the shoji open.

Shigeshige grabbed his katana from another servant, squaring his shoulders.

"Let's go. Has Kagura-san been informed?"

"Yes, she is rushing over now with her troops." Nobume reported, following the Shogun out to a side exit where two horses stood, neighing softly.

The air was chockfull of the replusive smell of blood. The night sky was lit up with orange flames of fire and explosions. Sounds of battle reached the ears of a worried Shogun, who rode to his army awaiting his command.

* * *

[Kagura's estate]

"YOU BASTARDS! ARE YOU READY?!" Kagura fired a volley of bullets into the air, balancing on Sadaharu's wide back. She had fetched Sadaharu to his new temporary home the second day she settled into the estate mansion. Sadaharu rarely left her side, and it wasn't going to be an exception this time round.

"YES, MY LADY!" The soldiers chorused. Sadaharu's bark joined their enthusiastic reply.

Kagura grinned brightly at her troops. "SET OFF!"

An ear-splitting roar of approval from the men almost threw Shinpachi off his feet. He adjusted his glasses, still unused to the notion of the girl he had come to see as a little sister becoming this powerful.

"You remind me of Zura and his bunch of idiots," Gintoki commented over the cacophony, "Screaming and shouting to his every word."

"My army and I are much more fearsome than his little bunch of hooligans." Kagura retorted, gripping a handful of Sadaharu's fur. The giant Inugami gave another excited bark, eyes bright and panting. "Hurry up and get on! We haven't got all day!"

Shinpachi climbed on between Gintoki and Kagura, complaining about the small space.

"Oh, sorry, is my voluptuous ass making you uncomfortable?" Kagura grinned.

"Voloptuous ass my foot." Gintoki snorted, "Wait till your front grows—"

"Kagura-chan! Gin-san! Now is not the time—"

" ** _SUSUME! SUSUME!_** " Kagura ignored Shinpachi, raising her umbrella. Sadaharu complied, howling zealously at the full silver moon hanging in the dark night sky.  
 **(SNK/AOT's Erwin)**

Her troops marched out in a steady pace, the solemn thuds of feets pounding against the floor echoing the beats of the Yorozuya trio's hearts.

* * *

[Yagyuu Estate]

**[NOTE: I shall address Kyuubei as 'she' even though Kyuubei has decided to live as a genderless person, I feel like using 'they' would be a little confusing later on in the story, so I've decided to just go by her biological gender]**

Kyuubei unsheathed her own polished sword, answering to her father, Yagyuu Koshinori's call.

Her father's speech wasn't compromised at all by his short stature as he stood on a ladder, pointing his own gleaming katana towards the silver globe in the dark, turbulent skies.

"Bring down the filthy rebels, and protect the Shogun!" They chanted. "IT'S TIME TO JOIN IN THE STORY AND NOT BE ON STANDBY!" The army yelled enthusiastically, getting some screen time (story time?) after 30 chapgers.

Yagyuu Binbokusai, her grandfather, stood amongst the roaring men with a steady hand on his katana, but he did not join in. It wasn't of his style to roar with such vigor at such an old age, Kyuubei found out later.

Nevertheless, with the army in high spirits, they marched their way to the castle, prepared to unleash the Yagyuu Shinkage-ryu on the rebels and show their might and loyalty to the Bakufu.

* * *

Somewhere out there, the Jouishishi echoed the same thoughts.

"WE ARE FINALLY OFF STANDBY!"

Cheers erupted among the men.

But one of them didn't join in, his face pale and sweating as he stumbled past his excited comrades to the cool air outside. No one noticed the odd one as they were too caught up in the moment.

The shouts of Katsura "only I can bring down the Bakufu" travelled through the thin shojis.

The man gulped nervously, his trembling hands reaching into his kimono. His unsteady fingers hit the small plastic packet and grasped the corner of it, quickly pulling it out and emptying the white powder into a bush.

He regretted pouring out the contents of the plastic packet almost immediately. His loyalty towards the Joui had won over in the end.

"Fuck...fuck!" He cursed under his breath, clutching his head in distress. "What-what should I do? What should I do?! They'll kill me...they'll kill my family..." The man stammered, remembering the cold metal of the katana against his neck and chilling grey eyes.

He stood there trembling, the sounds of his excited comrades in the background a complete contrast to his racing thoughts.

The man's eyes lit up with hope as he had an epiphany.

* * *

[At the Castle]

The remaining palace guards not engaged in combat knelt immediately in the presence of the Shogun. The Mimawarigumi, Shinsengumi, and Oniwabanshu followed after.

Okita did not follow the rest of the Shinsengumi but stood next to Hijikata like he was the real Vice-Commander instead. Only the leaders of the three forces stood standing, including Okita, bowing deeply to their Shogun.

Shigeshige's eyes flicked over to the First Captain, but he did not take offend at his impudence. He knew Okita didn't kneel to anyone except for Kondo.

Nobume continued to stay beside Shigeshige's side, after he had ordered the army to rise. Her mission was still to protect the leader of the country.

Sasaki gave a loopy grin, taking out his cellphone to snap photos of the grim faces surrounding him. "Ooh, this will make for a memorable moment...now just let me send this to the Daimyos, they will will be very glad to see some action going down than sitting like ducks in Morning Court everyday."

Hijikata wondered silently how many tries it had taken for Sasaki to obtain the Daimyos' numbers.

Shigeshige brow knitted together. "Sasaki-san."

"Yes, yes, Shogun-sama." Sasaki replied absentmindedly, "One last photo." He snapped a close-up shot of Shigeshige's somber face. Then he hit send, and snapped his cellphone shut.

Without waiting for Sasaki to return to his 'Elite' mode, Shigeshige gave out his orders snappily, waiting for a chorused "Understood, Shogun-sama!" from the troops before he turned to mount his steed. Nobume galloped after the Shogun on her horse, leaving the three forces in the dust.

Hattori Zenzo did not dawdle any longer. He flicked his right hand, and the Oniwabanshu dispersed, melting into the shadows of the castle and somehow blending into the open surroundings.

The white and black police forces stood rigidly, every eye carefully tailing the movements of Sasaki Isaburo as he strode towards Hijikata.

"It's so nice to see the Shinsengumi here, following orders and procedures correctly." Sasaki smirked, holding out a hand to Hijikata. The Vice-Commander of the Shinsengumi threw a cautious glance at his hand. "It must be because you lower classes finally can have a legitimate reason to fight like the hooligans you are, without getting into trouble."

Sasaki's deadpanned eyes fixed onto Hijikata's own blue ones which were burning with rage at the insult. His eyes reminded Hijikata too much of Gintoki's, and his anger multiplied tenfold at the thought of the silver-haired asshole. He slapped Sasaki's outstretched hand away.

"There, there, let's not be so barbaric and turn down an offering of peace." Sasaki mocked, holding out his hand once again. His sarcastic tone faded and turned somber. "The Mimawarigumi is extending a temporary truce to the Shinsengumi until this whole mess is straightened out. Let us work together, shall we?"

Hijikata was wary of this sudden truce between them—especially one initiated by the 'high and mighty' snob called Sasaki—but he knew that it had to be done.

Or else the two forces would start slashing at each other instead of the Aikake and Hitotsubashi faction.

Hijikata raised his own hand to clasp Sasaki's, giving it a firm shake.

The men of the Mimawarigumi and Shinsengumi grimaced at each other, a little disappointed to have missed the chance to cut each other up.

They split up without further words, joining the battle against the front forces of A-M-H's alliance.

* * *

Shigeshige and Aikake locked eyes with each other across the courtyard, soldiers already deep in their vicious battle as their respective leaders sat high on horsebacks at opposite ends, glaring.

Worry flashed across Shigeshige's eyes when he spotted Matsudaira standing on Aikake's right, guilt and helplessness written into every line of his body, his cigarette unlit and his sunglasses tucked away into his inner breast pocket. Matsudaira's eyes flicked over to his daughter Kuriko who was held at gunpoint. Kondo was right beside his daughter, bound like a pig waiting to be butchered. Kondo's eyes flashed with pride as he saw the Shinsengumi in the midst, his brave men targeting only the soldiers from the Aikake and Hitotsubashi House.

Kuriko gasped as a soldier of the Hitotsubashi House was stabbed clean through by the spear of another enemy. "Oh! My...that's...that's like totally painful..."

Matsudaira grumbled at the lack of a blindfold covering his innocent daughter's eyes. "You bastards, how dare you sully the eyes of my daughter with this violence! This should be given a M21 rating!" He pointedly glared at the soldier guarding over Kuriko.

The soldier looked to Aikake for orders.

"Do it." Aikake commanded with a wave of his hand, not even sparing a single glance at the father and daughter as he stared down Shigeshige at the opposite field.

"But— mmfg!" Kuriko's protest was stopped short by the soldier stuffing a wad of cloth into her mouth.

Matsudaira's small knife was pressing at the soldier's throat the next moment. "I asked to blindfold her. **_Not_** gag her." He growled.

Aikake allowed his eyebrows to raise. "So you had a knife with you. It must have been a trouble to hide it from my guards." He gave a small hand signal with his pointer finger.

The soldier noticed Aikake's signal, and clicked the safety off the gun pointing at Kuriko's head.

Matsudaira's eyes shifted to the weapon that could blow his daughter's brains out. He hesitated for a moment, swallowing his anger, then moved the knife away from the soldier's neck.

Another guard came up and snatched the small knife away from Matsudaira's trembling hands while Kuriko was being blindfolded.

Shigeshige's fingers dug into the horse reins when he saw his faithful subordinate run a shaking hand down his face in the corner of his eye.

The battle roared on as both leaders glared at one another, in another battle of wills to see who would break first.

And then Shigeshige smiled.


	34. Always Enter Like A Boss

Shigeshige's smile was only a slight lift of the corner of his lips, but Aikake could see the triumph in his eyes even from miles away.

Aikake's heart almost stopped.

As if on cue, the ground beneath his stationed troops erupted into an explosion of bright red and gold.

The explosion was too far behind Aikake to kill him, but it still singed the hair on his head. Blood rained down, the dying screams of his men piercing the night sky. He never did once turn around to see the aftermath of the explosion, keeping his glare on the smiling Shogun as his gaze darkened into twists of hatred and anger.

The Captain of the First Division grinned maliciously, the pitiful screams having reached his ears across the field. When Kagura was prepared to be coronated as a roju, the Shogun has already thought far ahead and trusted Okita with planting all sorts of booby traps to his liking on the castle grounds, anticipating for Aikake's and Hitotsubashi's mutiny.

They were all remote-controlled, to reduce the chances of hurting an ally.

And the remote was in Shigeshige's hands.

The Shogun knew that the bomb was right under Aikake's own troops, but he couldn't be sure that the blast hadn't caught a few of Matsudaira's.

Guilt shot through Shigeshige's heart as he looked upon the screaming, bleeding men, and the sheer amount appendages torn apart from the soldiers in the blast.

He was officially a murderer. A muderer of hundreds of innocent soldiers whose only duty was to follow the orders of their leaders, unlucky enough to be serving in this period of volatile times.

The remote turned into a burning object, searing his hands with the blood of **_his_** subjects. Regardless of their Houses, they were still his, and he had a duty to protect them, not murder them.

He wanted to throw the disgusting remote at Aikake's face which showed no concern for his own men.

But Shigeshige tightened his trembling hand on the remote. He couldn't let go—no, he **_wouldn't_** let go no matter how much he hated it.

But he couldn't afford to be the soft-hearted him on a battlefield.

And that is why Shigeshige hated wars.

* * *

The battle had turned in the Shogun's favour. The Shinsengumi and Mimawarigumi joined in the fight, bringing down scores of men with each swing of their katanas. Since they couldn't take a swing at each other, they turned the whole battle into an unpsoken competition, seeing who could take down more soldiers than the other. The Oniwabanshuu streaked through the battlefield, skewering soldiers with skilled precision, silent and deadly.

Aikake had broken eye contact first after that hateful glare he sent towards Shigeshige, and turned to reorganise and calm his stationary troops from the surprise blast.

The castle grounds were huge, but they couldn't handle all the number of soldiers at once. There wouldn't even be any space left for the soldiers to lift their weapons. There had to be stationary troops for both the A-M-H alliance and the Shogun's near the outskirts of the battlefield, to act as reinforcement when their vanguard falls.

Nobume watched on the battle, her red eyes glinting with the thirst for blood. She spotted a man in the mass of moving bodies, a ludicrous half-chopped away orange afro topped on his head, and dimly remembered that this Orange-afro man was the Shinsengumi's Third Division Captain.

Saito had rushed to the castle, and now was fighting his way through to the Shinsengumi.

"Shimaru-nii!" Saito whipped around to see Okita barrelling towards him, an unnamed soldier's arm flying off in a stroke of Okita's katana.

Saito barely managed to nod at Okita before another two soldiers jumped on him.

"You should rest, Shimaru-nii." Okita was beside him in a second, sliding his katana through the soldier's side in one swift movement. "We won't lose."

Saito shook his head, kicking the other soldier. He scrawled across the notepad he had swiped from the hospital in haste, elbowing another soldier of the Aikake House as he flipped the notepad to show Okita.

_'I know that you guys won't lose. But I want to fight.'_

_Especially Aikake_. Saito added silently in his mind.

Okita nodded. "Say no more fam."

They separated, Saito strucking down another soldier of the Hitotsubashi House, slashing out his own path towards his Vice-Commander.

Further in the distance, another explosion rocked the ground. Okita glanced up to the platform set up for the leaders of the army. He locked eyes with Nobume, who didn't even bother to give him an acknowledging nod. Okita's red eyes slid to the pale face of Shigeshige next to her, inadvertently noticing the shaking finger on the remote button.

Okita gave a small sigh when he realised Shigeshige was actually never involved in any sort of physical battle. Excluding the random scuffles whenever they met with the Yorozuya and their crew of friends.

Unlike the Shogun, Okita was feeling quite the opposite when he had taken his first kill.

* * *

Tsukuyo arrived minutes later, throwing herself into the throes of battle. She was about to strike down a soldier when she remembered the crests sewn onto the belts of the soldiers.

Tsukuyo mumbled a hasty apology to the soldier who held the crest of the Shogun's, turning to find a soldier from the Aikake House.

* * *

Blood couldn't seep any faster into the soil as quickly as the soldiers were replacing it with their own.

Shigeshige had triggered three explosions by now, his kind brown eyes turning colder with each press of the buttons. His own army was starting to pushed back by the A-M-H's fierce forces, and he had no choice but to put his finger down on each button to try and keep them at bay.

Excluding the soldiers already in service, the Shogun's army had the Oniwabanshuu and the two Shinsengumi and Mimawarigumi forces, and the Yagyuu and Kagura's private army which had not arrived yet. Not to mention the uninvited Jouishishi.

Aikake had the forces of the two dominant clans of Edo, coupled with his own army. It was considerably smaller than the Shogun's, yet they were still steadily gaining traction in this heavily disadvantageous situation of numbers.

Of course, the A-M-H had another advanced supplier on hand: the Harusame.

Hitotsubashi Nodenode had been the one to contact the organisation, and secured a contract with them. The Harusame would supply the A-M-H alliance with the latest technology and weapons, and help them throw Shigeshige and Sadasada out of the Bakufu. In exchange, was of course the Free Trade Agreement and Extra-Territorial Rights with the future Shogun. No matter who it will be, they will have to accede to the agreement that they had signed.

The Aikake and Hitotsubashi clan have been planning this revolution for years, compared to the mere few days the Shogun had to devise counter strategies. The surprise wedged into their well-rounded plans by the Shogun was just a small setback that could be overcome within the hour.

The moment when the opposition shakes off the surprise and begins to get into the rhythm, the Shogun will be facing a formidable force. Shigeshige will only have numbers on his side.

A massacre was bound to happen. The odds were now stacking against the Shogun's army.

Or rather, it was already stacked when A-M-H's army started equipping their elite soldiers with lightsabers.

The lightsabers were extremely costly, and thus the A-M-H army was only able to procure a few hundred of them. Aikake and Hitotsubashi wanted to save it for the last, but they saw no reason to keep such a weapon when they were against an army fighting with inferior katanas and yaris (straight-headed spear).

The two-hundred and fifty elite foot soldiers pushed to the front lines of the battle, their multicoloured lightsabers slashing through metal and flesh, becoming a formidable vanguard of the A-M-H army.

Sasaki Isaburo whistled at the sight of the state-of-the-art lightsabers, going closer to take a better shot with his cellphone camera.

"Woah there, careful. Let me take a few pictures of your lightsaber will you?" Sasaki dodged a soldier's attack, going around in circles as he snapped photos from every angle. "This is some rare stuff. Even I, a pure elite, have not seen many of these around you know?"

The soldier paused, a little embarrassed at the attention Sasaki was showering him with. He lunged again, but completely missed the Mimawarigumi Commander.

"Beautiful. Amazing. Such sleek designs," Sasaki commented as his fingers worked fast, sending out mass e-mails to all his contacts, "Would you like to give it to me?"

"What? Of course no— "

The soldier's hand gripping the hilt of the lightsaber hit the floor in a spray of blood.

Sasaki Isaburo smiled, bending down to pick up the lightsaber amidst the soldier's screams. "Ah. I thought so."

Somewhere further away, Sougo had gotten his hands around a lightsaber as well. He admired the blazing red colour of the plasma blade, turning the hilt around to find a familiar logo emblazoned at the pommel. "Star Wars— oh."

At the platform, Nobume stared greedily at a particular blue lightsaber, her red eyes glinting with impatience. She wanted one. And most of all, she wanted her blade to taste some blood.

The Shogun eventually noticed his protector's killing intents which were growing stronger with every passing second. He never took his eyes off the battlefield, the wails of his dying people now numb to his ears. "Imai-san."

Nobume stepped closer.

"Do you want to fight?" Shigeshige asked the Vice-Commander.

"My orders are to protect Shogun-sama." A monotone voice replied, not betraying a single emotion of what Nobume was really thinking.

Shigeshige gave a weak chuckle. It was extremely obvious that she meant the total opposite of what she was saying. "I'll be fine up here. Aikake will not attack me outright...for now. You can go."

Nobume hesitated.

"I won't repeat myself twice."

The Vice-Commander bowed, and jumped off the platform, her katana already unsheathed when she landed perfectly onto the ground below. Exactly 30 seconds later, Nobume had exchanged her katana for a blue lightsaber.

* * *

Other soldiers from the Shogun's army had tried to take over lightsabers as well, but failed miserably under the hands of the elite soldiers from A-M-H's army. The four were able to snatch one as their fighting skills were exceptional compared to the normal soldiers, elite or not.

A-M-H's Sith vanguard dealt overwhelming damage to the Shogun's army, slashing through armor and flesh like butter. Soldiers fell wherever they trod, opening up more leeway for the other foot soldiers to come rushing forward.

Shigeshige's hid his sweaty palms behind his back, his remote control already on the floor beside his feet. He had detonated almost all of them, and yet somehow Aikake had calculated out the possible positions where the remaining bombs were planted, ordering his soldiers to avoid those areas.

The tide of the battle was now in favour of the A-M-H.

A strong sense of disgust reared up when the Shogun's eyes landed on Aikake's serene face.

Behind the disgust, was worry.

Shigeshige was worried. The reinforcements from the Yorozuya and Yagyuu had not arrived yet, and at the speed of which the A-M-H army was advancing, he was sure the castle would fall before they could step foot into the battlefield. Shigeshige's hand wrapped around his own katana, wondering if he should join in the battle— as little as his help might be.

Maizou who had been behind Shigeshige the whole time, making his presence as inconspicuous as possible, piped up suddenly. "Shogun-sama, pardon me, but I do not think that you will be of any help in the battlefield."

Shigeshige froze. He knew it was a foolish idea, but he had to try.

Maizou continued, "Your presence will only disrupt the soldiers, as they will have to split their focus into protecting you, and battling with the enemy."

Shigeshige's hand dropped from the hilt of his katana. "I won't enter. I know will be easier for Aikake to take my life on such a chaotic ground."

According to the principles of warfare, the commanding general were supposed to join in the battle, and the enemy's commanding general was required to do so as well in order to level out the playing field. Due to the Shogun's special status, it was heavily discouraged for a Shogun to step into battle himself. Since Shigeshige did not join in, Aikake, Hitotsubashi and Matsudaira were barred from doing so. Although without entering the battlefield, the generals were still open targets for fire.

The platforms where Shigeshige and A-M-H leaders stood were too far apart to be crossed by fireweapons, resulting in the only possible way for soldiers to kill off the generals was to climb up the platform.

Of course, the platform would be heavily guarded from enemy soldiers and their bullets. The titanium overhang from the platform made it impossible for a soldier to shoot the Shogun from below. Walk out from under the overhang, and the Shogun would be out of range.

It was annoying for a soldier to say the least, unless they had bazookas and RPGs instead of handguns. Then it would involve the military's budget.

Shigeshige desperately prayed for the quick arrival of his reinforcements, his eyes scanning the borders of the castle ground for a hint of Kagura's army or the Yagyuu family. His eyes lit up when he spotted a hundred strong group, making their way to the castle.

"Is..Is that— ?!" Shogun took in a sharp breath of air, his eyes widening at the surprise.

Katsura's Jouishishi bombed open the part of the castle wall obstructing their way, making a flashy entrance as they roared their battle cries in the faces of the shocked soldiers.

**_"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, BITCHES! THE RESPONSIBILITY OF TAKING DOWN THE BAKUFU LIES WITH US!"_ **


	35. As Naruto once said, "A true hero always arrives late"

Katsura's appearance was definitely unplanned. Soldiers from both sides paused their fighting, thrown off by Katsura and his screaming minions.

Were the Jouishishi here to overthrow the Bakufu while there was a civil war going on? Were they supposed to collaborate and eradicate the Jouishishi so they could protect the Bakufu? Or were the Jouishishi here to work with either one of the sides? What were they going to do now?

The A-M-H and Shogun's army both turned to look at their respective leaders for help.

Shigeshige lost his composure, his mouth gaping open unflatteringly. He had not accounted for Katsura and his fellow terrorists. He hadn't even heard a single peep about it from Hijikata and the crew.

Katsura stormed in, raising his katana to the silver moon. "SHO-CHAN!" The long haired man roared, twinkling brown eyes boring into Shigeshige's widened ones.

It only took Shigeshige a split second to register Katsura's call as a call of support.

The Jouishishi were here to help.

His heart burst into colours of joy. A huge smile overtook his face, an unexpected sense of warmth and hope filling him up from within. He never realised how much he treasured that frenemy relationship with Katsura, the supposed terrorist of Edo.

"THEY ARE OUR ALLIES! DO NOT ATTACK THEM!" Shigeshige bellowed out his command, his voice resonating throughout the entire battlefield.

The Shogun's army moved out once again at their general's command, confused but attacking with renewed confidence. Any form of reinforcement was still reinforcement. The soldiers had never fought since the Amanto War, and years of peace had dulled their blades and reflexes. This war was quickly tiring them out.

They welcomed the Jouishishi with open arms, their battle cries piercing the cold night air.

The A-M-H army, taken aback by the enemy's rising morale, looked to Aikake deploringly. They would have looked for Hitotsubashi Nodenode—someone whom held a higher power and was more respectable than the young Aikake—but Nodenode was comfortable in his plush seat at the back of the platform, obviously letting the young and hot-blooded to take charge in commanding the troops.

"What are you doing? Attack." Aikake's cold voice cut through, overpowering the cries of the Jouishishi and the Shogun's army. His ever present serene smile was still there, as if the sudden entrance of the Jouishishi were expected.

The A-M-H soldiers shuddered as the biting wind—so similar to Aikake's voice—swept through the battlefield. They secretly wondered what could ever ruffle Aikake's feathers and break his icy composure. The A-M-H troops shook off the thought; this was war, they do not have the time to figure out their mysterious general.

Nevertheless, Aikake's calm and straightforward demeanor had worked some reassurance into the soldiers' hearts.

Both sides clashed again in a shower of sparks.

It wasn't before long before when the first Jouishishi started to show some weird signs.

The Hitotsubashi soldier he was fighting against as stopped and blushed furiously when he spotted a certain... ** _ringadingdong_** rising up like the sun underneath the loins of the Jouishishi.

"W-what are you...?!" The Hitotsubashi soldier spluttered, raising his spear to block the unsightly scene of a Jouishishi's arousal.

The terrorist himself was at a lost too. "I...! Don't get the wrong idea! I..I'm not attracted to you! I...I...don't know!" He reached a hand down to try and coax his little junior back into place, but it wasn't working out nicely.

"S-stop!" The Hitotsubashi soldier got even redder. Goddamn it, he was straight!

"I swear! It's not me—" The Jouishishi stopped abruptly when he felt something worse coming his way. "Oh. God. **_No_**."

"W-what now?" The poor soldier peeked from behind his hands to find the terrorist clutching his stomach.

"My...my stomach hurts! Oh no, no. This is the worst day of my life! Help!"

The soldier gulped when he saw the Jouishishi clench his butt muscles. "Don't tell me—"

Across the whole battlefield, the other Jouishishi members were experiencing the same problems.

Katsura didn't get the boner syndrome, but seemed to be having a bad case of diarrhoea. His subordinates, some were unlucky enough to have both at the same time, while others were lucky to have only one symptom.

The Jouishishi quickly fell into shambles as horny men humped poor soldiers and others were groaning on the floor, clutching at their stomachs and clenching their butts.

Aikake blinked—as much of a surprise he would show. He already anticipated the Jouishishi's help in this war the moment Katsura Kotaro barged into his estate to save Rae. He had taken measures to suppress this annoying group of fiends ever since they escaped like the slippery eels they were.

The man had reported to him that he had succeeded.

Aikake's surprise turned into irritation.

The poison he gave to the Jouishishi member he threatened would only activate and start corroding all of their organs in an hour's time. The man had reported to him that he had already done so, but Aikake wasn't seeing the expected results.

The Jouishishi were supposed to be bleeding from their orifices, not writhing on the floor like someone desperate to find a toilet.

_**Useless. Useless idiots.** _

He had sent his own subordinates to deal with this simple matter of poisoning, but none of them came back unscathed, reporting of their failure and a certain horrifying creature in a white penguin-duck suit that always managed to thwart their plans. Left without much choice, Aikake decided to use a member of the Jouishishi with easier access to the inside, as less trustworthy they were compared to his own soldiers.

After all, traitors have the tendency to betray more than once.

He called a guard to bring the Jouishishi traitor over. Moments later, the said man knelt in front of him, trembling in fear as he pleaded for his family's life.

"What did you give them?" Aikake glared at the Jouishishi, who kowtowed incessantly before him.

"I-I couldn't kill them...so I mixed Viagra and laxatives in instead! Please, my lord, please spare my family! I will pay with my life! But please spare my family! I beg of you, my lord!"

"Don't worry. You'll meet them soon."

"My lord! Than—"

Blood sprayed as a katana slashed through the Jouishishi's exposed neck.

* * *

A-M-H's army still had the upper hand despite the small setback by the Jouishishi, and now the Joui were all almost . Their reinforcement only lasted for 5 minutes or so before they fell. Literally.

Katsura was gritting his teeth against the wave of poop that was pounding against his ketsuno-ana. "My men! We must have been set up by Aikake that bastard! We shall defeat him—"

"Katsura-san! I can't do it anymore! I can't hold it in!"

"I need a woman! Give me a woman! I'm...I'm so excited it hurts!"

"Katsura-san! I'm sorry! I need to find a toilet!"

Katsura forcibly pushed himself up, leaning his weight on his katana as his legs shook like a newborn deer. "My men! Do not fret! And let it all out!"

"Let what—"

Katsura sheathed his katana, and reached a hand below his blue kimono. " ** _Take this, you filthy dogs!"_**

A suspicious brown mush flew in a beautiful arc towards the A-M-H army, spattering brown drops on anything it passed by. It elicited a deafening scream from the unfortunate soldier who got a full frontal of the brown mush in his face.

"KATSURA-SAN!" The respect the long-haired samurai had spent years building up was flowing down the drain. His men stared in disbelief at their Leader, his dignified image now forever marred with brown pixelated blots.

"You must abandon your pride! You cannot win against the enemy if you keep up this meaningless pride of yours! We must take this opportunity and turn the tables against these despicable men! Your pride will be gone anyways when you can't reach the toilet in time and shit your pants!" Katsura encouraged his men, flinging his poop at the screaming enemy at the same time. "Focus on the battle! Focus on our victory!"

"B-but!" The Jouishishi grimaced at the thought of having to physically touch their feces.

"Are you fit to be called men?! Are you fit to be called the Joui rebels when you can't even put your pride aside for the future of our country?!"

"AAARH!" The Joui roared, fired up and raring to go. They reached inside their hakamas and kimonos, ignoring the mushy feel that they must not have felt since they were four. "FIRE!"

Hundreds of poop painted a captivating scene of total horror and revulsion as every living being scrambled out of the way of the foul-smelling projectiles.

The Shogun managed to squeeze out a smile. It was just like Katsura to think of something so ridiculous.

Aikake on the other hand, wasn't enjoying this particular moment. He had never seen something so barbaric in his entire life. He cringed when the revolting smell reached his nose.

"Bring out the Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon!" Aikake covered his nose with an arm, shouting out instructions for the unaffected standby troops to roll out the cannon. A notable expense of money was spent on this destructive piece of modern technology they purchased from the Harusame.

The chrome finishing of the obscene cannon glinted menacingly in the moonlight, dyed a dark orange by the glow of the fire torches.

"Loading!" The soldiers in the control rooms (situated in the lookalike balls) reported. "Run out...and FIRE!"

Before the cannon could shoot its load ( _cough cough_ ), a familiar wooden sword pierced through the metal shaft. "Fancy seeing a Daimyo actually using the Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong. Wouldn't it hurt your image, hmm? Aikake-kun?" Red eyes met steel grey ones mockingly, a careless smirk on the white samurai's face which only served to fuel Aikake's fury.

The cannon imploded on itself, as a figure in white jumped back to avoid the explosion.

"THE ROJU'S ARMY! AND THE YAGYUU'S PRIVATE VOLUNTEER TROOPS!"

Their final reinforcements had all arrived.

The Shogun's army cheered. The climax of the battle was here.


	36. Wars Are Always a Pain In The Ass to Write

"CHARRRGE!" Kagura echoed the shouts of her men, firing blindly into the midst of the A-M-H army.

They had circumvented the whole battlefield to appear behind the standby troops, sandwiching the A-M-H forces between the Shogun and Kagura's army.

Kagura was a streak of red as she blasted through the enemy forces, abandoning her own army to do whatever they wanted. Her soldiers only faltered for a second at the lack of orders before following their female general's lead, cutting through the panicked lines of the standby troops.

Shinpachi's sword skills were improving exponentially with such constant practice and pressure under the risk of losing his own life. He swiftly knocked a katana out of a Hitotsubashi soldier's hold, aiming for the soldier's sword hand. He wasn't aiming to kill. Just enough to immobilise them and prevent them from joining the field temporarily.

Gintoki, well, he was already hunting down one of the elite soldiers for a red lightsaber. Gintoki had wanted to make a beeline for Aikake's head, but decided to put that aside for now when the lightsabers caught his eye.

The Yagyuu were trying to receive orders and information from the Shogun, and learn more about the current situation.

The Shogun's army was ecstatic. Victory was right before their eyes!

Aikake's steel grey eyes flashed dangerously.

Hitotsubashi Nodenode leaned forward in his terribly comfortable chair. "This won't do, Aikake."

Aikake bit back a sarcastic reply. He didn't need to waste time bantering with an old man. "Call the archers."

A soldier bowed, scurrying down to prepare the weapons and call upon the archers.

Moments later, a team of 5 archers was already pulling back the bowstring of a enormous black crossbow made of unknown material. The crossbow was placed upon a specially made stand that could allow the humans that were comparably smaller than its size to control it easily.

"Place the bolt!"

Another 5 archers scurried up the steps with a large arrow, fitting it into the mechanism of the crossbow.

Aikake waved for another soldier beside him. "Send the order down to bring out the plasma cannons. Now!"

Three years of planning and deals made with the Harusame was definitely showing its worth now. The Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon was only one of the many weapons in their arsenal. The plasma cannons had a greater cataclysmic ability than that phallic looking cannon. Powered by Kyber crystals from the planet of IIum, the 2 cannons rolling out onto the battlefield at this moment took the joint financial power of the Hitotsubashi and the Aikake House to purchase.

"All ready, my Lord!"

Aikake's eyes locked onto the Shogun's figure standing on the platform opposite of him. Normal weapons wouldn't be able to cross the distance, but these high-end technological weapons would be able to.

"Take aim." Aikake pointed a finger at the Shogun.

The soldiers adjusted the tip of the bolt to face Shigeshige. The cannon mouths turned to face the platform scaffolding that Shigeshige was standing upon. Aikake was aiming to take down Shigeshige immediately. One bolt aimed at his heart, the other cutting off his escape route.

"Ready, my Lord!"

Aikake uncurled the rest of his fingers. He only had to put his hand down to signal the release.

His lips curved upwards as he watched the Shogun and his soldiers become a chaotic mess on the other side. The Shogun's army (with the many other reinforcement armies) had realized that they were actually aiming at the leader of Edo and were now trying to make a human meat wall in desperation to try and buffer the power of the plasma cannons before they hit the scaffolding.

Above on the platform, the most anxious were Maizou and the other soldiers. Protecting the Shogun was their first and foremost priority. Jumping down the platform would only kill them, and if they took their time to go down, the scaffolding collapsing would also kill them. But if they hoped that the scaffolding did not collapse, they could easily dodge the one arrow. No matter how big the arrow was, the platform was much larger. They just needed to move out of its range and everything would be fine...if the scaffolding didn't collapse first. Maizou cursed under his breath. If only Nobume was still on the platform, she could easily get the Shogun down safely...

"Shogun-sama! Please be prepared to run! When the arrow comes, we will block it for you!" A soldier on the platform declared his undying will to protect the Shogun, his sentiments echoed by the other soldiers who were arranging themselves in front of Shigeshige.

Shigeshige's eyes turned suspiciously bright at his men's bravery. "Thank you."

The reflection of tears in the Shogun's eyes made the soldiers swell with courage. The soldiers had always been treated well by the Shogun, who even treated them as equals, never like the other Lords and nobles who thought of them as lowlifes that could be easily discarded.

Below them, the Yorozuya Trio with the other main characters were rushing to take down the plasma cannons before they fired.

Shigeshige committed the faces of the soldiers into memory, if he survived this attack, he would gratefully repay this debt to them and their families. The warmth however, disappeared as he locked eyes with Aikake on the opposite platform.

Even at such a distance, Aikake could still see the hatred within Shigeshige's eyes. His lips curved upwards at a greater angle.

The hand that had been in the air was finally put down.

"Fire!"

* * *

[At The Hospital]

The hospital was in another type of chaos. Ever since the civil war had began, citizens were unsure of what to do exactly. Did they need to run? Or they just needed to bunker down until the war was over? The hospital staff and board of directors were in a meeting to decide if they needed to wheel out the patients to a safe place before the fighting spilled out onto the streets. But where was the safe place?

Questions, decisions and panic threw the country into disarray.

However, this pandemonium seemed to have not reached the room where Rae was. The distant sounds of battle and occasional bombs didn't put a single ounce of fear into the stone-carved Rae.

There was only the sound of the clock. And the reflection of the woman on the screen of the television.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

Rae blinked.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Thump._

A sound unlike the clock's ticking sounded.

Following that, another few soft thumps were heard.

Rae blinked, still showing no reaction to having heard the unnatural sounds. The room was only dimly lighted up by the full moon hanging out there on the night sky. Three shadows stretched across the floor.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

"What the hell? Is this woman blind and deaf?" Unknown Visitor 1 whispered not so quietly to Unknown Visitor 2.

"Most probably. She didn't even react to us!" Unknown Visitor 2 replied.

"Pff. And here I thought this was going to be a challenging job. This blind and deaf woman needed three of us to get rid of her? What is Lord Aikake thinking?" Unknown Visitor 3 piped up.

The woman sitting on the bed suddenly turned to look at the three unknown visitors.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

"What the fuck! She looks so creepy. " Unknown Visitor 2 exclaimed.

"But she's pretty." Unknown Visitor 1 commented.

"Shut up already. Quickly finish our job and report back to Lord Aikake before he skins us alive." Unknown Visitor 3 chided the two.

Rae still watched them with the same expressionless face as the three crept towards her.

"Aw man, its such a pity we have to kill off such a pretty little thing." Unknown Visitor 1 sighed. "Maybe we should have some fun with her before we kill her?"

His hand had already reached out to grope Rae's breast before his two partners could object.

And then the three assassins suddenly didn't feel that Rae was so pretty after all.

Blood sprayed across the three assassins' faces as Unknown Visitor 1 gasped at his severed hand that was on Rae's soft mound seconds ago.

The other two Unknown Visitors pulled out their daggers and immediately aimed for Rae's vitals.

Their blades were only centimeters away when she leaned forward to meet the sharp weapons.

To reach their necks more easily.

A blade sank into Rae's left shoulder, missing her neck entirely, while the other dagger lodged itself right beside her beating heart. Rae ignored the daggers and reached out her claws, swiping at the necks of the three men.

Another shower of blood dyed the white bed sheets red.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

The three assassins gaped at the confusing sight of their backs, wondering why they could see the back of their ankles as they hit something.

Then their bodies fell to the floor.

The last sight they saw was the white bone sticking out of their severed necks, and a pair of beautiful, haunting gold eyes.

Rae stood in the blood of the three men, salivating at the smell of blood and fresh meat. She bent down to tear an arm off one of the assassins, biting down into the upper arm.

The tangy taste of blood filled her mouth, and the meat was deliciously chewy. Rae cocked her head at this new taste, almost forgetting the daggers stuck inside of her until the cock of her head pulled the wound on her shoulder. She munched on while pulling out the two daggers, the wound stitching itself close at inhumane speed.

The three men tasted not bad. But she remembered something smelling even more delicious.

What was it?

A face floated around in her mind. Cruel, grey eyes. Thin lips and a face sharply defined. Handsome, for sure.

 _Aikake_.

Rae grinned, licking her blood-stained lips, and made her way out through the window.

* * *

[Back to the Castle...]

"Fire!"

The Yorozuya and the other main characters were too late. The plasma cannons fired out in a beam of blinding pale purple light, and the main characters that had previously been rushing to destroy the cannons now had to dodge the two existence-erasing laser beams.

The plasma beams reached the platform scaffolding first, turning the meat wall of humans that were in range to dust instantaneously.

There wasn't even enough time for the soldiers to scream before they were obliterated.

Hitotsubashi Nodenode leaned forward from his terribly comfortable chair, watching the fall of the Shogun with twinkling eyes of excitement.

His eyebrows scrunched up together when he realized one of the plasma beam was not vaporizing the scaffolding. The beam inched forward slowly, as if an unknown force was preventing it from advancing. "What is happening?! Lord Aikake!"

Aikake's smile was gone, but he ignored the old man as usual, waiting for his last ploy to unfold.

At the Shogun's scaffolding, one side had been taken out by one of the cannons, but the other was stopped by a familiar large purple umbrella. It was extremely similar to Kagura's own parasol, except it was much larger in size and had white chrysanthemums painted on the canopy.

"Get behind me!" Kagura gritted her teeth against the immense power of the plasma cannon, ordering the remaining soldiers to seek protection behind her. Her new parasol was already crumbling under the vaporizing power of the plasma beam. Inner Kagura wailed at the loss of her new parasol. When she was inaugurated as the new roju, Soyu had given her this as a congratulatory present, and now it was going to be destroyed. She hadn't even tried out all the functions Soyu had told her about.

Its defense ability was already as high as it could get for a parasol. Kagura spit out a mouth of blood as she pushed against the crushing pressure, her blue eyes wavering from the pain in her legs and arms.

The soldiers couldn't just let themselves be protected by a little girl of all else— injured or not, they held parasol together with Kagura, and others pushed Kagura from the back, sharing the pain and succeeded in stopping the plasma beam from crawling forward.

Meanwhile, at the top of the platform, the platform was leaning towards one side— the side where the plasma beam hit its mark. Shigeshige and his soldiers scrambled to regain their balance, and run from the cross-bolt that was whistling through the air towards them. The platform leaning to one side had actually helped them escape the range of the bolt, and the soldiers were about to heave a sigh of relief.

Then the cross-bolt split open and out shot a shower of glinting, metal arrows.

Aikake's smile returned.

The soldiers paled immediately. It was not just a shower of arrows, but a shower large enough to cover the whole platform. The metal arrows dotted the night sky, menacing meteors of death waiting to shoot through their heads.

"Protect the Shogun!" A soldier hollered, breaking out of the trance that fear put them into. His shout caused the other soldiers to turn and encircle Shigeshige, throwing themselves on top of one another with Shigeshige at the bottom of the pile. The soldiers feared that the weight of their bodies would suffocate the Shogun before the arrows even reached, so bottom-most circle of soldiers held themselves up with their arms while others piled upon them. Maizou laid across the Shogun's chest, trying to protect the Shogun's head with his short stubby arms.

Shigeshige watched through the crook of Maizou's arms, as his men's arms trembled at the weight of the other soldiers on top of them, his eyes capturing the unwavering determination in their eyes.

Shigeshige opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the whistling arrows as they arrived.

Blood and tears from the soldiers on top of Shigeshige dripped through the tiny gaps onto the Shogun's face. Each sound of arrows piercing flesh and grunts of pain reached Shigeshige's ears. He forcefully kept his eyes open, to look, to memorize the faces and the pain and the torture these soldiers were enduring for him, and store this moment inside his heart.

Bodies fell from the top of the pile as the shower of never-ending arrows continued.

Shigeshige locked eyes with the soldier right above him, sweat rolling down the soldier's pale face. He recognized him as the soldier who had professed his determination and loyalty to protect him from the cross-bolt earlier.

The soldier's face twisted in pain as as arrows struck his back. They could tell it was ending soon. "Shogun-s..sama..." The soldier tried to smile as the last arrow hit his back. They had done their job spectacularly well. The Shogun survived without a scratch.

Shigeshige smiled back at the soldier, grief tearing his heart into little tattered pieces.

"We _**will**_ win." Shigeshige promised to the last dying soldier.

* * *

Shigeshige helped Maizou out from the pile of dead soldiers. The platform teetered, creaking dangerously. Zenzou reached the Shogun first, having climbed up the scaffolding that was near collapsing. He brought the Shogun and Maizou down safely to the castle ground.

Shigeshige looked up at the sky, trying to see the faces he had memorized.

20 young lives. Gone in seconds.

Shigeshige had never hated himself more.


	37. Christmas Melodies In a Battlefield

Otose's Snack Shop was dimly lighted, the lantern outside swaying in the cold night.

Tama, Catherine, Otae and Otose were gathered at the bar, downing a few glasses of alcohol.

"There they go again, causing trouble." Otose sighed, puffing out smoke.

"Trouble? Its more than trouble! It's a goddamn national crisis!" Catherine clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

There was distant explosion from the castle.

Otae sighed. "If they aren't back by tomorrow afternoon, I'll go to the castle and rip the whoever-Aikake's throat out."

* * *

[Yoshiwara]

Hinowa brought another cup of tea to the Vice-leader of the Hyakka, trying to comfort the Hyakka that their leader would be back soon. They came to find Hinowa after learning their boss was nowhere to be seen.

"B-but it's a war! Boss is in danger! We should find her!" The vice-leader was near tears.

The other women of the Hyakka nodded in agreement, a little hurt that their boss did not call them to help her out.

"Tsukki has all of you in mind, and that was the reason why she did not want to implicate all of you into such danger," Hinowa patted the vice-leader on the back, "The Hyakka's job is to protect Yoshiwara. " Even without Tsukki, she and I hope that the Hyakka will still ensure peace in Yoshiwara. Now is a period of anarchy, and that is all the more important that the conflict does not reach us. Your leader entrusted this task to you, you wouldn't betray her trust in you, right?"

The Hyakka revived, wiping away their tears and downing the tea in one shot. "All right guys, it's time to patrol Yoshiwara!"

* * *

[At the Castle— after the attack on the Shogun]

"What a spectacular failure, Aikake." Hitotsubashi Nodenode scowled.

"One more word. You'll be thrown down the platform." Aikake warned coldly.

Hitotsubashi Nodenode was infuriated at this brat's tone of voice, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.

The Shogun was not dead, but one-third of his army was. The plasma cannons did most of the work in decimating the army while the collapsing platform did the rest. After this blow, the morale of the Shogun's army had dropped as well. Injured soldiers littered the area at the Shogun's side, human-turned-dust choking up the air and random appendages decorated the field.

Although the A-M-H army was still outnumbered, but they had modern weapons on hand— and they were reusable.

Katsura's Jouishishis were burned out after all sorts of releasing, poop or otherwise _(wink_ ), and retreated from the battlefield to rest till they gained some energy back.

The Shinsengumi and Mimawarigumi were on rotation, allowing them to get enough rest— with the exception of the leaders. Especially Nobume and Okita who were ganging up to execute some of the most sadistic methods of slaying their enemies.

Kagura and the soldiers that managed to take cover behind the parasol narrowly escaped death by the plasma cannon burning out. The new parasol disintegrated into dust right after the plasma beam ended. She shook the pain off, and went off again into the battlefield with her trusty old parasol.

Tsukuyo was definitely not regretting bringing the Hyakka out to fight. She did not want the Hyakka to help as they had no relations to this whole Shogun-usurping matter, much less die for her on this battlefield.

Sadaharu was enjoying the number of human heads for him to bite, with Shinpachi right beside protecting the Inugami.

Gintoki was sloughing his way towards the platform, preparing to cut down the platform where the A-M-H leaders stood above the rest, and watch their downfall. Kyuubei deployed a part of her volunteer troops to help Gintoki.

Shigeshige couldn't just sit still after he made 20 young men die for him, and joined in the battle as well. No one gave a shit about the rules of war anymore. He was a shining figure in the midst of his men, bringing up the moods of the soldiers which had fallen to the very depths as everyone realized how vulnerable they were in front of the A-M-H army's weapons. Fear lingered in the air, soldiers dreading the next round of bombardment from the plasma cannons and cross bolts.

Aikake had already given the order for the next discharge of ammunition. He ordered for the rest of the destructive rocket launchers, bazookas and such to be brought out, plasma cannons needed a longer cooldown while the next bolt was already being carried over to the giant crossbolt.

"Fire."

Another deadly shower of arrows rained upon the Shogun's army, and another hundred fodder characters were lost.

The A-M-H army whooped, confidence showing in each swing of their swords. Victory was leaning towards their side.

"Load the next bolt."

"Yes!" A soldier scurried away, only to return later with a pale face. "M-my Lord...the crossbolt supply was destro—I mean...its under attack now."

Aikake turned his eyes onto the soldier. "What?"

The soldier shivered under Aikake's sharp gaze. "T-the Oniwabanshuu broke the bolt casings, so there's only the metal arrows from inside the casing left—"

"And you are not eqquiped with normal bows?" Aikake cut off the soldier. "Use the metal arrows with your normal bows!"

"B-but..."

Footsteps thundered up the stairs. Another soldier appeared, "My Lord! Our bows supply was bombed open by the Jouishishi!"

Apparently, the Jouishishi were not just simply taking a break.

Aikake backhanded the second soldier across the face. "What in the world are you idiots doing?! Is keeping an eye on mere objects such an insurmountable task?!"

"Use the rocket launchers and bazookas instead. Bring out the miniguns." He seethed, "And _get out_ of my sight."

"Y-yes, my Lord!"

* * *

Shigeshige was tiring quickly, as he sat around most of the time, having limited training time. His armor weighed him down, and his arms and legs felt like they had been filled with lead. Each blow of his katana grew weaker.

He made a mental note to exercise more after this ordeal.

A Hitotsubashi soldier yelled, rushing up to the Shogun with his spear whirling. Shigeshige gritted his teeth and met the Hitotsubashi soldier's blow.

"The Shogun's head is mine!" Another soldier from the Aikake House exclaimed, joining in the fight.

Two against one was pushing the limits of the exhausted Shigeshige, and he started to become overwhelmed from fending off the 2 soldiers.

Soldiers from the Shogun's army dashed forward to help but was blocked off by the opposing soldiers.

Shigeshige was being forced back to the teetering platform where carpenters were still trying to stabilise it and prevent it from collapsing totally. He was too focused on the two enemy soldiers to notice the danger above him.

A friendly soldier called out suddenly, "SHOGUN-SAMA! ABOVE YOU!" There was another round of panic as the Shogun's army charged forward for their Shogun.

Shigeshige looked up at the warning to see a heavy piece of wood break off from the platform, the object covering his vision in a field of black that grew as it fell.

"SHOGUN-SAMA!"

The panicked screams of the soldiers attracted the main characters' attentions. Tsukuyo, who was closest to the Shogun, threw out a flurry of kunais at the wood, breaking it into multiple smaller pieces that missed the Shogun completely.

Before everyone could heave a sigh of relief, their hearts dropped to their stomachs once again.

"Let go of the Shogun you bloody wanker!"

Shigeshige hadn't regained his composure from the near-death experience when the Hitotsubashi soldier he was fighting against took the opportunity to attack. He aimed his spear for the Shogun's heart, but Shigeshige sacrificed his arm to block the spear.

Shigeshige screamed as the spear went cleanly through his arm, stopping inches above his armoured chest.

"SHOGUN-SAMA! PROTECT THE SHOGUN!"

"LET GO OF THE SHOGUN YOU TRAITOR!"

A circle of A-M-H soldiers blocked off the Shogun's army from reaching their leader encircled in the center as they attacked fervently.

The Hitotsubashi soldier realised that he couldn't miss this one and only opportunity, and thrust forward with his spear to cross the remaining few inches separating the tip of this spear from the Shogun's heart.

Shigeshige threw his arm to the side in a spurt of adrenaline, dragging the spear that was still stuck in his arm off to the side, missing his body entirely. He almost blacked out from the pain assaulting his nerves but managed to keep his eyes from rolling backwards.

On the other end of the spear, the Hitotsubashi soldier was thrown off balance by the Shigeshige's pull and stumbled closer to the Shogun. The quick-witted soldier let go of his spear, whipping out a dagger and used the momentum to close in on Shigeshige.

Shigeshige was still trying to regain back his senses from the previous attack and couldn't see the dagger flashing right before his eyes.

This had all taken place within a matter of seconds, and none of the main characters had made it over yet.

The dagger was raised into the air just as Tsukuyo threw another kunai to knock the dagger out of the way. However, the kunai met the katana of the Aikake soldier that had joined in the 2 against 1 fight earlier.

The Shogun's army went absolutely nuts when the kunai was deflected. It was their last hope that they were watching being deflected off.

Everyone's heart stopped as the dagger sliced through the air, its tip making a beeline for the Shogun's heart.

" _Take the Shogun alive! Do not kill the Shogun_!"

The Hitotsubashi soldier's eyes widened as he recognized his Lord's voice thundering across the battlefield. He inwardly cursed; why tell him now when he was about to finish the Shogun off?! It was too late now!

The soldier partly succeeded in pulling his arm back, the dagger gouging out a long jagged line down Shigeshige's golden breastplate. Blood poured out soon after, but Shigeshige's life was still intact. The Shogun stumbled back, a hand on the wound as his knees finally gave out.

"SHOGUN-SAMA!" The Shogun's army met with more resistance as the A-M-H soldiers threw out all sorts of modern weaponry to keep them at bay.

The Hitotsubashi soldier reached out and pulled Shigeshige close, his dagger across Shigeshige's pale neck. "Stop moving! Or I'll kill off your Shogun!"

The Shogun's Army stopped struggling, their faces wrought with worry and frustration. "Shogun-sama!"

Shigeshige was leaning entirely against the Hitotsubashi soldier; he no longer had any strength to hold himself up. Blood poured out of him in an never-ending waterfall. He was sure that he would either die under the hands of this soldier or due to excessive blood loss. Shigeshige tried raising a weak hand to push the soldier away, but the soldier pressed the dagger closer into the skin of his neck.

Every single soldiers' eyes were focused on the soldier and Shigeshige. Not one dared to raise their weapons as they waited for each of their leaders to pass down the next order. The tension was so thick that everyone were unconsciously holding in their breaths.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Aikake stood on top the platform, his steel grey eyes ablaze with anger.

More specifically, the anger was directed at a certain man who had just broken their shaky alliance.

"What. Are. You. Doing?" Aikake's nekote shot out from under his long sleeve.

"Do not ask such redundant questions. You know perfectly what I am doing." Hitotsubashi Nodenode coldly replied, a hint of smugness in his tone.

Aikake's mind raced as he worked out the intentions behind Nodenode's actions of betrayal.

Saving the Shogun? No. Hitotsubashi Nodenode's ambition for his son to become the Shogun was not false. He had not a single shred of loyalty for the kind-hearted Shogun.

Aikake glanced at the tense stand-off happening on the battlefield.

Ah.

Realisation made Aikake raise his sharpened claws at the Lord. "Abdication."

Nodenode's answering smirk confirmed his thoughts.

"Hah! Ridiculous! Tokugawa Shigeshige would rather die than willingly give up the Shogun's seat to your retarded son." Aikake snorted.

Hitotsubashi Nodenode didn't even flinch at the killing intent Aikake was radiating. "You know that sly Sadasada would retake the seat once again the moment his nephew dies. It would be another hard battle between that old fox and you. I rather not waste my time and resources."

"Traitors only have one ending." Aikake didn't bother to argue further, "Death."

Just as Aikake swiped at Nodenode, the surrounding Hitotsubashi soldiers atop the platform dashed forward to protect their Lord, throwing a smoke bomb to throw Aikake and his soldiers off.

When the smoke cleared, Nodenode and his soldiers were gone.

Seconds later, from wherever he had escaped to, Nodenode made an offer to the Shogun. "Tokugawa Shigeshige," his voice booming across the battlefield startling the soldiers, "If you agree to give up your seat to my son Nobunobu, we will spare your life."

Shigeshige heard only bits and snippets of the voice in his muddled consciousness, but he understood enough from it. "N..no. I will never...step down...from my position..." He rasped to the soldier still holding him hostage.

The Hitotsubashi soldier relayed Shigeshige's message in a much louder voice. "He says: he will never give up the seat!"

Gintoki and the main characters tensed up further, trying to think of ways to save Shigeshige from his fate. They were all split apart across the battlefield, and not a single one of them was within reach of Shigeshige especially with the band of A-M-H soldiers still encircling the Shogun and the Hitotsubashi soldier. Tsukuyo was the closest, and then next was the Mimawarigumi Vice-Leader Imai Nobume with the Sadist Prince. Kagura was somewhere in the middle of the battlefield, and Sadaharu with Shinpachi were near the periphery of the battle. Gintoki himself was at the very opposite end of the battlefield, because he had been aiming for Aikake and Hitotsubashi Nodenode. He had part of the Yagyuu Volunteer Troops with him. Kyuubei was somewhere out there. The other members of the Shinsengumi, Mimawarigumi and Oniwabanshuu were sprinkled across the battlefield randomly. The Jouishishi was still attacking the A-M-H army's stock of weapons, with the help of some of the Oniwabanshuu.

Gintoki narrowed his eyes as a certain somebody from the Oniwabanshuu popped into his head. He hadn't seen her the entire time he was here; it was a novelty to not see her hovering around him the moment he arrived onto the battlefield.

Well, who cares? Now the most important task at hand was to ensure their SOS (Save Our Shogun) plan wouldn't fall through.

Aikake was calculating the different outcomes of keeping the A-M-H alliance alive superficially, or turn his army right now against the HItotsubashi's. He glanced at Matsudaira Katakuriko, who was bound up and gagged shortly after his own daughter.

The alliance was broken, but the soldiers didn't know yet. Aikake was sure Nodenode wouldn't announce the break-up. If the coercion for Shigeshige to give up the seat directly to Nobunobu didn't work, it was still back to their original plan: eliminating the Shogun. Nodenode would come crawling back then. Plus breaking up the alliance would only give Lord Matsudaira the perfect chance to break apart from their hold and join the Shogun's side amidst the three-point battle between Aikake's forces, Hitotsubashi's and the Shogun's.

Aikake decided to wait and see.

Nodenode's voice sounded once again when the Shogun's refusal reached him. "We will ask again, Tokugawa Shigeshige. Give up the Shogun's seat to my son Nobunobu, or else you **_and_** _**your little sister's life**_ will be forfeited."

Shigeshige's face turned white as a sheet when those words reached his ears. The Shogun's soldiers sucked in a deep breath at the sudden addition of the princess's life.

Shigeshige wanted to strangle Nodenode right there and then. He had sent Soyo away to a safe place days before the war started— and now he was told that his precious little sister was right in his enemies' hands the whole time. He thought he had been able to keep Soyo away from this bloodbath, but no, he was as useless as he could be as a human.

He couldn't protect his most loved ones, he couldn't protect his soldiers, he couldn't protect his own country from going against him.

"We have evidence of Princess Soyo with us right here, but we do not think that we need to show it. I'm sure you understand that we do not lie." Hitotsubashi Nodenode continued. "Let's not waste any more time, _Shogun-sama_. Yes, or no?"

Aikake was not surprised that Nodenode had been hiding this trump card all the while. Looks like HItotsubashi Nodenode had gotten addicted to the taking hostage thing.

_We..._

Another flash of realization hit Aikake head on.

_Hitotsubashi Nodenode had already prepared an escape route for himself._

Aikake's hackles raised and a sense of peril engulfed him. He needed to kill off Nodenode. Immediately.

Before Aikake could interrupt and announce the breakdown of the A-M-H alliance, another familiar voice snatched the attention away from the battlefield.

A soft, humming voice, coming right from the top of the Castle.


	38. Life is Filled With Questions?

The full silver moon outlined the womanly figure standing above all on the top of the Castle's roof. Even the red-stained hospital gown couldn't hide the beauty of the woman as she swept her golden star-beam eyes across the field, hooking the souls of the men with just a single look.

A soft, lulling tune paired with her dulcet voice stroked down the spines of the tense soldiers, slowly but surely stripping them of their fear, anger and fatigue. What was left was only a sense of bliss and peacefulness. Small, contented smiles began to appear on the soldiers' faces, and their grips on the weapons began to loosen.

No one could peel their eyes away from the figure of the woman above as she began to move to the slow music with a preternatural grace. A single hand movement made men swallow. The curve of her lips made their hearts skip a beat.

It took Aikake a few seconds to sort out his thoughts. What was Rae doing here? Didn't he send assassins over to get rid of her? She was incriminating evidence of his illegal activities.

The main characters were equally shocked to find Rae right before them, looking absolutely seductive even while covered in blood that came from unknown sources. Tsukuyo could feel her heart pounding for Rae even though she had given her heart away to another silver-haired man.

The cold winter breeze lifted the glinting strands of Rae's bone-white hair, ushering in flakes of new snow along with it. The moonlight limned each flake of fluffy snow, transforming the war-torn landscape into a strange but wonderful fairy-tale land.

The lullaby's tempo rose higher along with the winter wind.

Not a single person could break from the spell of her voice; just staring, listening, watching her sing on this snowy night.

Though beautiful, the snow was cold and sharp as it bit at their skin and the winter wind caressed their cheeks with icy fingers.

Aikake was trying his best to clear his muddled head. He was furthest away from the castle, yet had the perfect front view of Rae atop the castle, as small as she seemed on the monumental structure. The power of her voice was weaker the further they were. His fingers twitched towards the pocket where he had always kept earplugs, but soon realized they were not with him. He never expected her to show up at a battlefield, besides the fact that she was supposed to die tonight.

The Hitotsubashi soldier and the Shogun were right below the castle, and were totally lost in her rhythm. The knife held against the Shogun's neck had slipped from the soldier's grip, yet not a single person noticed. Music flowed through their veins, hijacking their senses and relaxing every single muscle they had. Weapons thudded to the floor as soldiers began to sway to the soothing music.

Aikake fought against the hypnotizing music, trying to tear strips of cloths from his robe with fumbling hands.

Then, the tune began to shift into a harsher, jaunty one.

The sudden shift gave the characters who were fighting against the melody an opportunity to break from Rae's grasp. The haze in their eyes cleared and they continued to struggle for full control of their limbs.

Gintoki steadied his relaxing grip on his wooden sword and the lightsaber. Kagura gritted her teeth against the urge to tap her umbrella along to the upbeat, jaunty tune Rae was now singing. Sadaharu sank his teeth into Shinpachi's scalp, trying to help him through pain. Tsukuyo spotted the slip in the A-M-H army's formation that was still encircling Shigeshige and the Hitotsubashi soldier and moved a painful step forward to try and save the Shogun.

Okita cursed at himself as he tried moving closer to the Shogun. Goddamn it! He was supposed to be unfettered by any and all women who threw themselves at him! He was the sadist, the one in control! Meanwhile Hijikata assessed the situation and tried to make sense of everything. Saito Shimaru was placing one foot in front of the other at a tortuously slow pace, determined to climb up to the castle and bring Rae down.

Nobume was taken aback that this stranger's voice was actually holding her back. Sasaki was desperately trying to snap a photo of Rae on top of the castle, but his trembling hands betrayed his efforts.

Rae's eyes flashed with displeasure as she watched some soldiers on the field attempt to bend down and pick up their weapons. Her singing still wasn't strong enough.

The number of prey present on the battlefield excited her. The smell of flesh and blood was so thick she was drowning in it. Her salivary glands were overworking as she imagined warm meat in mouth— but there was someone's flesh that she specially came for. Her liquid gold eyes met Aikake's across the large battlefield, licking her lips as she recalled the smell of the man's flesh in the underground dungeon.

As Tsukuyo moved towards the circle of soldiers, something nagged at her in the recesses of her memory. Rae...Why did she come?

Rae had moved before she left the hospital too. She put her fingers in her ears to block out something...Sound? Why?

Saito had given them a report on the happenings of the Aikake estate when he was hospitalized. The Aikake estate guards kept earplugs with them for—

Understanding dawned upon Tsukuyo. Rae had given her a warning? Had she already planned to come to the castle? They didn't have earplugs! What was she supposed to do?

Rae's eyes narrowed. Aikake was already stuffing one of his ears with a rolled up strip of cloth. She couldn't wait anymore. She needed to immobilize them before they ran away.

Rae morphed the jaunty tune further, still keeping everyone spellbound as the melody turned ear-grating. Confusion began to appear but not all could move to cover their ears from the horrible sound.

Tsukuyo panicked, and did the only thing she could come up with at the time.

A dissonant scream broke the hypnotic but harsh tune, shocking the soldiers. Fear invaded them as the soldiers realised they had been at the mercy of the song, unable to move and speak. They then scrambled to slap their comrades out of the spellbinding tune, and the movement helped the others regain some control of their bodies.

"STUFF YOUR EARS! DO NOT LISTEN TO THE SONG!" Tsukuyo ordered, running for the Shogun that had been abandoned by the Hitotsubashi soldier.

Rae's anger at the disruption made her amp up the harshness of the tune.

Spellbound or not, everyone who could hear Rae dropped to the floor, clutching their head from the pain that ripped through their neurons. Some quickly tore off strips of their clothes from underneath their armour and stuffed their ears with it, while others just grabbed handfuls of dirt and shoved them inside their ears.

Tsukuyo tore her kimono sleeve as she ran, stuffing her ears with the black silk. She reached Shigeshige who had passed out on the floor and stuffed his ears next. Zenzou appeared the next moment, helping Tsukuyo. They reinforced the makeshift earplugs by stacking piles of dirt against Shigeshige's head. He began to treat Shigeshige's wounds, stopping the bleeding with a special powder.

Sadaharu was digging a hole in the ground because Shinpachi didn't have enough clothes to completely stuff his oversized ears.

Seeing that most of the soldiers were already up and moving, Rae didn't see the need to continue her binding song. She paused to take a deep breath.

Saitou's eyes widened as he realised what Rae was about to do. He stopped climbing up the castle and leaned against the wall, waiting for the screeching torture that was around the corner as he tore off strips of his clothes with nimble fingers.

Sadaharu growled, sticking his head into the finished hole and Shinpachi helped push dirt over to cover it. He managed to pat down the last mound of dirt before the headsplitting pain forced him to the ground.

The agonized screams of the soldiers was drowned out by Rae's more powerful voice. The soldiers that hadn't managed to block their ears in time writhed on the ground, crimson streams of blood dripping to the floor from their ears. Even the ones that managed to block their ears were not spared from the mind-crushing pain.

Saitou grimaced, pressing his head closer to the stone walls that helped block out Rae's voice a little.

Their faces bloated red as all the blood rushed to their head.

Gintoki cursed at everything as he plunged his wooden blade into the ground, trying not to squirm like a worm like the other soldiers around him. He was at the other end of the battlefield, furthest away from Rae, but even so the pain Rae's voice brought was still enough to bring him to his knees. And here he thought he had a high tolerance for pain.

How long was this going to last?

Sasaki had his flip phone on hand, his eyebrows getting increasingly furrowed as the minutes crawled by. It was nearing three minutes.

Soldiers that had no earplugs went crazy first as it hit three minutes.

They dug their fingers into their eyes, squishing past the fibers and mush to try and dig into their own brains and stop the pain and the unearthly scream echoing in their heads. Rae's "song" felt like endless needles pushing into their brains, while a blunt knife was slowly shaving off their brain a small piece at a time.

Four minutes hit and even those with earplugs started shaking, clawing at their faces- and those with extremely low pain tolerance met the same fate as those without earplugs.

Five minutes went by and even Nobume felt like digging her own katana into her head.

Just as everyone thought it was going to drag towards the sixth minute, Rae's voice trailed off.

Released by the demon of pain, soldiers succumbed to the blissful darkness. Even those that remained conscious laid immobilized on the battlefield.

Saitou forced himself to crawl up immediately when he spotted Rae teetering on the edge of the castle roof. She had spent all her energy and her body couldn't take it. He caught Rae as she rolled down, struggling to remain conscious himself as his head throbbed. He was barely able to prop Rae up against the wall of the castle, and settle himself beside her on the ledge before fainting.

The winter wind howled, filling up the eerie silence that had descended upon the battlefield.

Gintoki flicked off his sweat, and a tiny shower sprayed the dead soldiers beside him. He could move again, but felt weak and flimsy. Others had started to recover their movement as well.

Up above on Aikake's platform, Matsudaira had his brows furrowed in confusion. He had thought he and Kuriko were going to die, since he couldn't very well stuff his and his daughter's ears while being tied up like a pig awaiting to be butchered. At the last moment, a soldier above the platform sneaked up and stuffed his and Kuriko's ears.

When did the Shogun plant a mole beside Aikake? And to be up on the platform, the soldier must be a trusted one of Aikake's.

To be precise, it wasn't Shigeshige that planted men in the Aikake House, but Sadasada. He wasn't the Shogun's Advisor for nothing. He has his men everywhere in all the important officals' Houses, keeping tabs on all their activities. When Aikake had shown himself to be a rising star among the official ranks years ago, Sadasada sent men to infiltrate the Aikake House.

The same spy crawled up again to Lord Matsudaira, careful not to attract Aikake's attention to the situation behind him. Aikake had collapsed into the chair Hitotsubashi Nodenode previously sat in, and still hasn't recovered fully. Kuriko was out cold from the song. The spy quickly pulled the wads of cloth from the father and daughter's ears. He then whispered "When you see a fireworks signal, be prepared. We will save you. Your wife will be safe."

Matsudaira's forehead scrunched up further.

There was more than one spy? And saving? Matsudaira turned his head to look at the spy soldier crawling back to his position, then realized that the other fellow soldiers on the platform were literally ignoring everything that the spy had done. Surprise flashed across his eyes.

Looks like Sadasada's control over the court was still highly underestimated.

With this unexpected interlude from Rae, everyone was unsure about what was going to happen next. No one seemed to have the energy left to continue fighting. Were they going to end the civil war like this? It was a bizarre situation— the first civil war to end (?) with a single woman singing her lungs out.

The soldiers stayed down obediently, waiting for commands from the higher-ups.

Shigeshige was still unconscious. Maizou pushed himself up to look for the second-in-command General, while kicking another half conscious soldier to go and notify Lord Sadasada to come to the battlefield immediately.

Aikake lifted himself off the chair as soon as the spinning ground steadied itself, grabbing the loudspeaker to pass down his next command. It was the perfect timing while the opposition had not sorted out their chain of command.

"All members of the A-M-H ar— "

A firework burst in the dark winter sky.

The signal firework was somehow modified by the shameless ninja stalker, and showed a cute winky face of hers with a line of words underneath it.

_' Gin-san 3 Sa-chan is yours only forever and ever! '_

Gintoki almost coughed up blood at the line. She basically announced to the whole Edo that she was his woman. He wouldn't be able to get married to anyone else with this line calling him dibs first.

Just as the signal firework faded, another burst of golden sparkles lit up the sky.

Matsudaira and the spy soldiers above Aikake's platform were all dumbfounded by the spectacle before them. What happened to a normal signal firework? And there was a second one as well? Were they supposed to rescue the Lord and his daughter then? Was this really the signal they had been waiting for?

This time, Gintoki really coughed up blood at the sight of Sa-chan's blushing face outlined in golden firework sparkles.

_' I still remember that steamy night we had...'_

"What steamy night?!" Gintoki grabbed a bow and arrows off the ground, shooting them at Sa-chan's firework face.

Aikake just stared blankly at the sky, wondering what was going to come out to the battlefield again. A insane possessive woman who would shoot fireworks in their faces?

The spy soldiers just didn't care anymore and dashed forward, cutting Lord Matsudaira and Kuriko loose while Aikake was still stuck in surprise realm.

Aikake turned around when he realized something was amiss.

The spy soldiers froze under his gaze.

The soldier carrying Kuriko almost dropped her as he halted in an awkward position.

"CATCH THEM!" Aikake yelled, calling for the other trusted soldiers of the Aikake House up to the platform.

The spy soldiers fled like never before, throwing the half-tied up Lord Matsudaira and Kuriko like sacks of potatoes to their fellow spies under the platform, whilst battling off the Aikake soldiers.

Maizou took over as the second-in-command when he found the General lying face first in the dirt. He picked up the loudspeaker, and mustered all the strength his small body could produce. "ATTENTION TO ALL MATSUDAIRA HOUSE SOLDIERS! YOUR LORD IS UNDER RESCUE FROM THE CORRUPT TRAITOR AIKAKE! PROTECT YOUR LORD!"

The Matsudaira soldiers looked back at Aikake's platform, realizing the total mess the A-M-H army had become as all the spy soldiers surfaced. The Matsudaira soldiers betrayed the A-M-H army immediately, picking themselves off the ground to run back to the chaos over there and escort their Lord away to safety.

Hitotsubashi Nodenode understood instantly that the Hitotsubashi House was no longer a winning party. He staggered upright with the help of a soldier, and hollered into his own loudspeaker. "Hitotsubashi soldiers! We are going to take down the traitor Aikake now together with the Matsudaira army!"

The Hitotsubashi soldiers were confused by the sudden betrayal as well, but they wouldn't question their Lord's decision, and promptly hurried over to help rescue Lord Matsudaira and Kuriko.

Nodenode continued with a remorseful tone, "Shogun-sama, the Hitotsubashi family apologizes for the traitorous act of betraying your trust! The Hitotsubashi were also forced to join the heinous Aikake! The snake kidnapped my family and poisoned them, and promised me to only give the antidote if I help him accomplish his absurd scheme!"

The Hitotsubashi was making a last effort to keep their House afloat, and pushed all the blame onto the Aikake House. Aikake's anger reached its limit.

He was losing.

No.

Aikake crushed the louspeaker under his feet.

He had already lost.

Aikake reached into his robe, and pulled out a firework signal. The firework signal shot into the air, blooming into the insignia of the Aikake House.


	39. I Spy a Hole...A Plot Hole...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, obviously a quickly hashed out story was going to have a few holes (sheepish smile). This is why you shouldn't impulsively start a story without planning the whole thing first.

The civil war drew to a close at daybreak.

The sun rose, showering the blood-stained battlefield and the weary soldiers with its warm rays. With only the measly number of the Aikake soldiers against the whole country, the victory was instantaneous.

The signal firework by Sa-chan was a signal to show that the Oniwabanshuu had taken complete control of the Matsudaira House, and ensured the safety of the Matsudaira family members. Apparently, the Oniwabanshuu sent by the Shogun to the Matsudaira House had finished their job early, but because of Sa-chan's modifications to the signal fireworks, they ended up dragging their announcement of success.

Shigeshige was still in a coma due to the severe injuries. He had always been treated and pampered like a fragile flower, and even the training he received was never harsh. Going onto the battlefield like this and coming back alive was already a miracle.

Rae was sent back to the hospital immediately. She was half-dead from her various vigorous activities (including the flesh feast she had), but Tsukuyo who went back to the hospital with her cleaned up the crime scene without a single word, throwing the bodies onto the battlefield, perfectly covering up Rae's murder and cannibalism crime. No one would question why dead people were on the battlefield.

The remaining soldiers cleaned up the battlefield while the main characters rested. On the other hand, Sadasada called for a meeting with the Generals and the officials to clean up the administrative mess the civil war made. They had to weed out the affiliated officials to the Aikake House, and suppress those linked to the Hitotsubashi family.

Sadasada sighed as he read through the report. Hitotsubashi Nodenode was one stubborn stain that he still couldn't wipe off completely from the court. The ruthless old man poisoned his own family by his own hands to ensure that the words he said that day on the battlefield was true, and had planted the antidote in the Aikake House. The poison was an extremely slow-burning type (you wouldn't die immediately) but the report given by the doctors stated that the poison had been in the Hitotsubashi family members' systems for a year or so.

Hitotsubashi Nodenode had been paving the escape route since long ago.

Sadasada couldn't exterminate the Hitotsubashi pests since they had been "coerced" to work with the traitor, and the last effort during the battle to save the Matsudaira Lord and suppress the Aikake army was still a contribution to the court. The most Sadasada could do now was to give the Hitotsubashi House a light sentence, and suppress his affiliated powers.

The Matsudaira House was only given a 300,000 Yen fine, and let off easily. Orders from the Shogun who woke up for a minute to declare that before falling back into a coma.

The three generations and relatives of the Aikake House was sent to the dungeons, awaiting execution when their crimes were investigated thoroughly and set.

The meeting lasted from early morning until the late afternoon, while soldiers went around Edo catching the fleeing members of the Aikake House.

Kondo-san happily returned into the embrace of his injured subordinates, and the Matsudaira family had their own happy reunion.

"Ya' know, the Shogun could have sent the Oniwabanshuu earlier to rescue us...like long ago when Matsudaira pops was first being coerced by Aikake..." Kondo mused to the smoking Hijikata and the stony-faced Okita.

Hijikata's cigarette slipped from his fingers, the tip burning a small hole in the expensive tatami mat.

_**Author: Well then, let's skip ahead shall we?** _

"Oi! Don't try to cover this u—"

* * *

"Its's the Edo 6 o'clock news! Ketsuno Ana, your favourite on-site reporter here! I'm sure everyone has been waiting for this expectantly since yesterday's sudden coup d'état!" Ketsuno Ana's chirpy voice came through the TV in the hospital room.

"Turn the volume up, Pachi." Gintoki mumbled through each crunch of the crackers.

The Yorozuya trio + 1 dog + 1 Tsukuyo were in a spacious VIP hospital suite, courtesy to the Bakufu. They were the major players in defending the castle, and thus the Bakufu was more than willing to pay their medical expenses, Rae included.

Rae was a rather special case. She was a great contributor in ending the war in a single day. Even though she practically slaughtered both sides, she still managed to stop the war, so...yup. Rae was given her own hospital suite, because the doctor strictly disallowed any sort of noise, stimulation and disturbance. In his exact words: She's gonna ( _doctor makes a hand slicing motion at his neck_ ) at any moment. She needs a quiet environment to get her rest and recover.

"We are here at the Aikake's Mansion! The despicable bastard has an unusual taste, as you can see here behind me— his mansion is a blend of western and eastern styles with the top alien security technologies..."

A nurse bustled around in Rae's room, turning on the TV for Rae's entertainment even though she doesn't think that the blank-faced woman lying motionlessly in the bed would react to anything. Rae resumed her stony state after she woke up this morning.

The nurse couldn't stand being in the same room with a weird and creepy emotionless stone, and made adjustments to the hospital equipment with lightning speed before escaping.

Ketsuno Ana's voice filled the otherwise silent room.

Rae's green-gold eyes widened a little as the screen panned to the interior of Aikake's mansion.

Ketsuno Ana's voice turned somber. "Unconfirmed sources reported that the Aikake House was involved in human slavery, keeping trafficked women as "gifts" for bribing officials in the Bakufu. The authorities have been looking into the slavery matter, and till now there has been no concrete evidence..."

No concrete evidence? Rae's brows furrowed. But—her friends, the women...there were so many...Aikake couldn't hide them so quickly...

"Looking at the inside of the mansion, at the blood covered floor and the smell of steel, one can only imagine what happened here. The blood was reported to be only 2 days old." Ketsuno Ana on the screen grimaced at the horrific sight in the mansion, covering her nose with dainty fingers. "There were many belongings of women found, but those were unclear whether they belonged to the women who were kept as slaves, or were just the mistresses of the traitorous bastard."

_Beep...beep...beep..._

Rae's heart rate monitor beeped incessantly as the number on the monitor climbed up.

Blood. A lot of blood.

2 days old, a day before the battle started.

Rae gasped for air.

_BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...BEEP..._

Ketsuno Ana on the TV screen walked further into the mansion, showing each room bathed in brown, crusted blood.

Rae tore off the tubes stringing her to the equipment beside her bed, falling to the floor in her haste to take a closer look at the TV. Her weakened legs couldn't carry her, so she crawled to the TV, pale hands shaking as she grabbed the edges of the TV.

No...no...

It couldn't be...no...

Her vision flickered black as she hyperventilated, one hand clawing at the screen that permeated the colour of dried blood.

The door slammed open as a crew of doctors and nurses dashed into the room, carrying Rae back to her hospital bed and connecting her once again to the machines. They had discovered the anomaly in her heart rate as it sped up and rushed to the suite at once.

"Switch off the TV! The TV is making her agitated! And bring me the sedatives! We need to calm her down quickly— use a bigger dose, her constitution is unique!"

* * *

At the hospital suite where the Yorozuya and Tsukuyo gathered, their faces were dark with worry. The TV screen suddenly seemed so glaring.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Gintoki's rough voice broke through the tense atmosphere.

"I don't want to think about whatever you're thinking." Tsukuyo replied. "I don't believe it."

"Is Rae-san watching this?" Shinpachi adjusted his glasses.

"Hopefully not-aru. She wouldn't turn on the TV for herself, right?" Kagura petted Sadaharu absentmindedly, her blue eyes fixed onto the screen. ( **Author: Kagura's accent magically comes back after disappearing for so long haha sorry forgive me I keep forgetting about it)**

"I don't believe it." Tsukuyo repeated. "I don't believe it."

No one said another word more.

* * *

"Her condition is stable, the sedatives have taken effect." The doctor sighed, scribbling on the clipboard that hung at the foot of Rae's bed. "We need to pay closer attention to this patient. Watch her monitors closely. No one is to leave her unattended. One of you will stay back to watch her."

"Yes, Doctor." The nurses chorused.

Ensuring that Rae's life was in no imminent danger, everyone left, leaving a nurse behind to attend to Rae.

The nurse settled into a chair by the window, staring off into space. The beeps of the monitors soon lulled her to sleep.

* * *

"Here, have an apple." Hinowa peeled an apple skillfully, passing it to Gintoki.

Otae fussed over her little brother, checking his glasses more carefully than the human body. "Thank goodness you weren't harmed." Otae sighed with relief.

"Sis, look at me when you're saying that, don't look at my glasses."

Otae had brought Tama and Hinowa to visit the troublemakers in the hospital.

"This suite is..." Otae smiled at the spacious room and the various expensive looking furniture, "You guys should go and fight in more wars."

"Sis, I almost died you know."

"If you die a hero, our dojo will be covered to the roof in compensation money." Otae's eyes flashed at the thought of money.

Shinpachi recounted the events when the TV suddenly switched on by itself, a striking red line of words flashing on the screen.

"National emergency! Warning! Aikake Kagai, the traitor of the Bakufu has escaped prison! The estimated time was an hour ago. Citizens of Edo, please keep a watch out for this heinous criminal, and report to the authorities immediately if you see anyone that looks like this!" A picture of Aikake flashed on the screen. "The criminal could be in disguise, please watch out..."

"What is this." Hinowa drew in a sharp breath.

"An hour ago...it's 10 pm now." Tsukuyo looked out to the window, where the bright sliver moon hung innocently in the night sky.

"How did he escape? He was kept under the highest security detail..."Shinpachi looked to Gintoki for an answer.

"How would I know, you idiot? They were preparing to ship him off to the island prison tomorrow, he was temporarily kept in the castle's dungeons today." Gintoki put down the apple he was eating. "Call the stupid V-shaped bastard and the gorilla. It's their job isn't it?"

* * *

The warning blaring from the TV woke the nurse up.

"W-what? Wh..what happened?" The nurse rubbed her eyes, squinting at the TV. "Oh dear, I slept for so lon—"

A squelch cut off her next words.

"Eh...eh?" The nurse looked down to see the blade of a katana sticking out of her neck.

Her head separated from her neck, the sound of her head thudding to the floor absorbed by the thick carpet.

He flicked the blood off the blade, calm madness in his steel grey eyes.

The woman on the bed stirred, smelling the scent of blood and someone whose flesh she had lusted for since long ago.

"Hello, my sweet little cupcake. I've come to take back what's mine _._ "


	40. The End

Rae lifted her heavy lids, fixing her green-gold eyes on the man she hated. And loved, once, long long ago.

Aikake met her eyes, noting that the gold was weaving into her natural green.

"Not going to scream for help this time?" Aikake glided closer to her bedside.

Rae stared at the man, motionless.

"You look breathtaking with white hair, you know." He smoothed out a strand with his fingers, the moonlight reflecting off his katana and casting him in a dark shadow.

The contact made Rae jerk with surprise. Her eyes widened.

_It's not a dream? It's real?_

"Come with me, cupcake. I don't want to kill you. You know I really love you, you know that right?" Aikake bent down closer to her, a hand caressing her gaunt, pale face. "You're the only one I branded out of all of those women. Do you know why?"

Rae closed her eyes. _This must be a nightmare. He came back to haunt her._

"Of course you do, my cupcake." Aikake breathed.

She knew.

She knew since the day he took her to his bed, and whispered sweet nothings to the vulnerable, innocent her.

"You're **_mine_** **,** mine only." Aikake stroked her hair, his gentle voice echoing in her mind like a hypnotising record.

"Come with me, cupcake, come. Let's go far, far away this time, no one will reach us, no one will break us apart again...we can forget all the things that happened all these years...we can start again..."

Aikake sent her a soft smile, staring deeply into her sorrowful eyes. "You don't have to share with all the others, you can have all of me to yourself. Isn't that great?"

 _No_.

Rae blinked.

The sliver moonlight that seemed so mystical suddenly reminded her of the night where it sat above in the sky, watching silently, as Yura and her escaped, and the gunshots ringing in her ear. Each sound made her heart squeeze with pain.

Yura dying because of her.

Maiko being tortured because of her.

All her friends, dead, because of her.

Another flash of memory before her eyes—soldiers on the battlefield...Aikake on the very opposite...and...the soldiers writhing on the floor...begging for the scream—her—to stop.

Rae sucked in a deep breath as she remembered the night before. Killing, eating humans, and butchering thousands on the battlefield.

_What have I done?_

Aikake stepped back cautiously when he noticed the horrified expression on her face, lifing the katana slightly. His voice was still as tender as ever, convincing and calming. "Cupcake, it's not too late...look at me, my cupcake. I want to spend the rest of my life happily with you. I _**love**_ you."

Rae focused her gaze onto the tall man that once controlled her like a puppet.

Aikake couldn't _love_. He was heartless. His "love" was a twisted sense of possessiveness, it wasn't the love that she craved since young. She had mistakenly believed his love for her to be true once, but now she knew the difference.

His love was selfish, but the love she wanted was a home for her soul.

"No." Rae's voice was hoarse.

The muted shadows turned ominous. The cold steel of the blade reflected off the sliver of moonlight.

"No?"

Rae could sense the underlying currents beneath his smooth voice, ready to sweep her away and drown her within its dark depths.

"Cupcake, what would you do on your own? You can't survive without me," Aikake purred, "I even threw everyone else that would disturb us away. I did everything for you."

"No." Rae's hoarse voice grated horribly as she raised her volume. "No."

Aikake's mellow gaze turned icy. "I don't want to kill you, cupcake."

* * *

The phone rang several times, but no one picked up.

Gintoki tried several other numbers, finally getting the call through. "Souichirou-kun. Are you not the police? How did you guys let him escape?"

"I'm busy, Danna. Stop calling me. And my name is Sougo."

"Shut up and explain, Song Joong Ki."

"Danna, that's a korean name. We weren't the guards for the prison Aikake was kept in. He escaped too easily, and his traces were all covered up expertly. We concluded that he had planned the escape, or else we would have found him by now. He must have others helping him outside. And my name is Sougo. We are searching Edo for him right now, I'm busy."

"Come to the hospital. He might come here, or someone under his command might come here. Either your gorilla commander or the nicotine addicted bastard or you would be fine." Gintoki ordered.

"Why would he visit you, Danna? I'm hanging up."

"He's not going to be visiting, he's going to eliminate someone. Come here immediately, Ryo Yoshizawa. Rae is in danger."  
( **A/N** : **Ryo Yoshizawa is the actor playing as Sougo in the live-action movie)**

"Rae? The slav— "

"He killed off the other slaves, so there's only Rae left. Rae is the only remaining piece of evidence." Gintoki's voice darkened.

The phone call ended abruptly.

"Are they coming?" Tsukuyo asked quietly.

"Mm." Gintoki replied, "Let's go ask the hospital to allow us into Rae's hospital room. We need to keep her safe."

* * *

"Wh...where is everyone? Where...where did you bury them?" The swirl of gold in her eyes intensified.

"Bury?" Aikake smirked.

"Where...where are they? I want to see them...let me see them..."

"You don't need to see them, cupcake. They are dead. I killed them because they were becoming burdensome. But I love you, my cupcake. This is why I'm leaving you alive. Come with me. You don't need to worry about them." Aikake moved closer, shifting the katana to hide it from Rae's view, as if not seeing the blade would convince her of his love more.

He held out a hand to the woman now sitting upright on her bed, white hair spilling across her shoulders. Confusion in her gradually deepening gold eyes made his hand stop at a safe distance away from her.

"Where are they buried? Where did you leave them? Where...?" Rae asked, her thoughts a mess.

She wanted to tear her heart out and scream; she wanted to kill the man before her; she wanted to— she wanted to find the others and join them.

The beeping of the heart monitor rose very slightly.

"If you want to know, cupcake..." Aikake placed a careful hand onto her soft hair and bent down to her ear.

" _I fed them to the dogs._ "

* * *

"The heart monitor has lost the signal! What is the nurse doing?" The counter was chaotic as nurses called for the doctors upon realizing the flat line that was moving across the monitor connected to Rae's heart.

"Hurry and check up on the patient in room 601! Bring the defibrillator! Get the..."

Gintoki lurched forward to the counter, grabbing a nurse by the arm. "What happened? What happened to Rae?!"

The Yorozuya, Tsukuyo, Tama, Hinowa and Otae had come out of the suite to ask for the doctors' permission to allow them to transfer to Rae's suite, only to be met by total chaos over Rae's non-existent heartbeat.

"We lost the signal to her heart— " The nurse started, but was cut off as the group of humans and 1 large dog sprinted for the stairs up to room 601.

Hinowa wheeled herself quickly to the elevator, praying for Rae's safety.

Rae's room was only a level above theirs. Gintoki kicked the stairway door open, his wooden sword already in his hand.

The 6th level was an entire suite, occupied by only Rae.

Muffled, strangled screams emanated from the soundproof room as Gintoki and the others neared the door. Tama hacked the electronic lock immediately, flinging the door open with her mop.

They stopped short at the doorway.

Rae's guttural screams assaulted their ears as they stared at the sickening scene, the blood staining her white hair red, and her kneeling over an unrecognizable mess of a human.

Rae lifted the broken lamp again and again, smashing it into the mess of flesh and blood where Aikake's head once was. Hatred lit her golden eyes, and she dug her claws into Aikake's chest, tearing and digging out everything in her reach. She pulled his heart from his chest, stabbing the heart repeatedly with a broken glass shard from the lamp.

The group watched from the doorway, too shocked to move.

They watched as she lifted the bent metal stand of the broken lamp, bringing it down towards the mutilated head of Aikake, splitting it open further, the insides spraying like an exploding watermelon.

And again,

and again.

Gintoki moved forward finally, catching Rae's arm that rose to hit Aikake's head that had already become little bits and pieces scattered across the floor.

"He's gone, Rae. He's dead. You can stop now." Gintoki told her softly, slowly prying the mangled metal away from her hand. "It's okay, he's dead...don't worry, we're here. You can let go now."

Rae fixed her golden eyes onto Gintoki's face, cold and murderous.

Breathing heavily, she looked down to her bloodied hands, then back to Gintoki and the others still standing at the door. Rae took a moment to connect the blood on her hands to the shredded body beneath her.

A choked sob came out as she frantically wiped her bloodied hands onto her hospital gown, trying to clean her hands of the blood.

Blood. Everywhere.

Rae gasped for air, tears welling up. "I...I killed him...I killed him..."

A bright smile suddenly lit up her bloodstained face. "I killed him."

But the smile was swept away immediately as she grabbed her head, bewildered gaze searching the room for something. "I shouldn't be happy...I shouldn't be happy...I'm a murderer...I killed Yura...I killed Maiko...I killed everyone...I shouldn't be happy...they are all dead. They are all dead...I need to find them...w— where are they? I need to find them. Where is Yura? I want Yura...I..."

Tsukuyo held in her own tears as she enveloped Rae in a hug.

"No...no...I..I need to join them...I need Yura!" Rae pushed Gintoki and Tsukuyo away, her eyes locked onto something underneath the hospital bed.

Gintoki lunged forward, grabbing the katana that Aikake dropped before Rae could get hold of it.

"Give it to me! GIVE IT TO ME!" Rae screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks, leaving streaks of pale skin through the blood that bathed her whole body. Her fingernails sharpened as she turned to Gintoki, pouncing towards him with an outstretched claw.

Gintoki braced for impact as he blocked with the katana and his bokuto, taking care not to face the sharp edge of the katana towards Rae.

But Rae stiffened centimeters away from him, her hand dropping to her side as her eyes rolled back into her head.

"Ah...thank goodness we managed to hit her with the tranquilizer."

Gintoki caught Rae in his arms, whipping his head towards the doorway.

Doctors and nurses crowded the door, all sorts of equipment on hand. They arrived right behind Gintoki and the others to see the blood-covered landscape, and had been stunned during the whole entire process. One doctor finally came to his senses when Rae attacked Gintoki, and aimed a tranquilizer gun at her.

"We'll transfer her to another suite...so we can clean up here— " The doctor speaking gagged at the bloodied room, "Excuse me..."

He ran off to the toilet.

"I'll bring you guys to wash up..." A nurse piped up, her pale sweating face indicating that she wanted to leave the crime scene as quickly as possible.

"No, no one's washing up as for now." Another familiar voice drawled.

"Sofa-kun." Gintoki sighed.

The First Captain of the Shinsengumi surveyed the red room with one raised eyebrow. Behind him, his division members were trying to hold their stomach from rebelling against them at the revolting scene. Sure, they had been on the battlefield and even took many other lives throughout their whole duration as a Shinsengumi member, but it was the first time that they had ever seen the inside of a human body in such detail, up close and personal. The lolling head of the nurse at the floor by the window just added to the element of horror.

To think that it was the shredded body on the floor was a man that stood at the top of the platform only yesterday on the battlefield, looking down upon them like ants.

"We came here to apprehend a criminal. Not some hamburger meat. And my name is Sougo, Danna." Okita splashed through the puddles of blood.

"Well then, what's done cannot be undone. I'm sure Mihoshi Rae won't get thrown in jail for this. He was on death row after all." Okita picked a small slab of meat that was still dripping blood off the floor with the tip of his katana. "We'll just send this to the lab to get it confirmed that it's Aikake's dead body."

"Thanks." Gintoki nodded at Okita.

"No problem. Here— catch it, China." Okita swung the piece of meat towards Kagura, who opened her umbrella immediately to block the bloody flesh.

"YOU DISGUSTING PRICK! Why the hell did you throw it towards me?! Give it to your stupid subordinates-aru!" Kagura roared, a shiver crawling down her spine at the thought of the dripping meat slapping onto her skin.

"Does it look like they would be able to carry this to the lab?" Okita looked pointedly at his men that had fled from the scene when the flesh was thrown.

"Then _**you**_ carry it-aru!"

"I don't want to. It's dirty."

"Go fuck yourself-aru. I'm not touching that shit."

"Kagura-chan!" Shinpachi hollered, reflex kicking in. "A young girl like you shouldn't be saying profanities!"

"You go fuck yourself too, Glasses!" Kagura retorted, "It's not like I say them very often!"

Hinowa cut in, "Now, now, let's not fight..."

* * *

[A month later]

The whole country rejoiced as Shigeshige awoke from his coma, the turmoil in court already smoothed out by Sadasada.

Edo had returned to its peaceful days.

The first female roju for unknown reasons had resigned a week after the war, and the seat was empty once again.

It was voluntary...as it seemed to the public.

The Yorozuya were money-grabbers, of course they wouldn't let go of that seat until they died. So after much persuasion— **_very_** threatening persuasion— by the Shogunate's Advisor, Tokugawa Sadasada, Kagura "voluntarily" quit.

On the day of the goodbye, Kagura's ex-private army wept at her feet, begging for her to stay and train them longer.

Soyo-hime giggled at the sight of the soldiers kneeling, weeping like their mother was the one that was leaving.

But Kagura at least got to keep the few modified china outfits that the seamstress had made for her.

In the hospital, Rae was woken from her medically-induced coma, as her body had repaired all the damage after the month of rest. Everyone, from the Princess to Catherine, came to visit her.

Rae opened her eyes to the large throng of people squished into her fairly spacious hospital suite.

"Mihoshi-san!"

"Rae-chan!"

Rae blinked, her golden eyes widening with surprise. She awoke from a month-long bonding time with her Siren— or rather, bonding time with herself— to a crowd of people that she wasn't very well acquainted with.

"H...hello..." Rae whispered, her voice small and tiny after a month of unuse.

"She's so cute..." A Shinsengumi member commented at Rae's shy face.

"Oh no, my friend, apparently she's really dangerous. Even the First Captain warned us not to go near her..." Another member nudged the previous one in the ribs. "You remember that woman who sang at the castle rooftop? That's her..."

"Rae, you remember me right?" Gintoki waved a hand in front of her face, "You better not get some stupid amnesia like those cliche stories."

Rae nodded. "I remember..."

"Alright! Everyone quiet down! There can only be 10 visitors at most in one time! Those useless ones please get out of the room! The patient is still in recovery and needs a quiet environment!" The doctor shooed the whole group of people out the double doors.

Only a handful stayed.

"Apparently Aikake still had a few people working for him, and the day the battle ended, he released a fireworks signal to signal for the people to prepare to break him out of prison." Hijikata bluntly cut to the chase. "Well, you won't be incarcerated because of his death. So you can rest well and not worry."

"I...Do you know where the other women that was kept in the mansion together with me are? H-he said...he didn't bury them..." Rae started and stopped, her chest tightening at the thought of her friends.

They weren't her friends initially. Or else she wouldn't have only escaped with Yura. But reminiscing on the times that they helped her, and the time they spent together locked up in the mansion with Aikake— she thought that she could call them friends now.

Although it was too late.

Kondo-san replied this time, "Most of them were..." He trailed off when Rae's face darkened with sorrow. Kondo cleared his throat and tried again. _She must have known about it_. "We found a few bodies that were spared, and we buried them at the Rakuen Cemetery."

The dark look on Rae's face passed, settling into a heavy sadness that hung around her. "Thank you."

The clock ticked softly in the silence. No one knew what to say to a person that just lost everything close to her—and even her reason to live. Even offering condolences would probably seem jarring to her now.

"You know, you can come work for the granny. Or you could even come to work with us." Gintoki offered.

"Thank you." Rae gave the silver-haired samurai a tired smile. "I will think about it."

"Just don't think about dying. We didn't race through the bastard's mansion to get yourself killed by your own hands in the end." Gintoki warned.

"I owe you my life, Gintoki-san." Rae slid out of bed gracefully, kneeling to the floor in a dogeza. "I owe all of you guys my life. I won't seek death anymore, I promise."

Tsukuyo walked forward to lift her off the floor and tuck her back into bed. "I should be the one apologising. I wanted to save all of them—but I wasn't able to." "

"No, it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself, Tsukuyo-san." Rae shook her head, "Author-san is the one at fault here."

 **Author** : Ey! Don't just push everything onto me! There were perfectly clear reasons why he kill—uh why he eliminated them! But it'll take a little long to explain so I'll explain at the end of the chapter.

"That's right! Author-san is the source of all these misery! I had to suffer listening to Kuriko-chan chatter away while I was locked up with her!" Kondo protested.

 **Author** : Shut the hell up, gorilla gorilla gorilla! You got the good end of the schtick! Rae's the one who suffered the most here!

Hinowa sighed. "Author-san! Let's finish this story happily, shall we?"

 **Author** : Ok.

- **Author patches up the fourth wall-**

Anyways, Rae recovered, she worked happily with the Yorozuya, she had a long emo period, always carrying the silver hair ornament that Yura gave her, and she felt like she finally found her real family, which was the Yorozuya! THE END!

"Oi, Author! Don't fuck around and end it properly!"

Who cares, you idiot, shut up.

"I can see all your narration you know?!"

"What about all those unsolved mysteries? Rae's eyes! Her time at Aikake's mansion! And what's goi—"

I'M VERY HAPPY TO HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE SUPPORT MY STORY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR WAITING FOR MY VERY LONG HIATUSES, EXTRA CHAPTERS ON YOUR FAVOURITE PAIRINGS COMING UP!

"OI! WHAT IS THIS BULLS—"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[[NOTES FROM 2015:]]]  
> A/N: Yes! I finally finished the story! What a happy ending right? Here's the explanation I owed you guys for Aikake murdering the rest of the women.
> 
> You see, slavery is illegal right? It's a crime, and Shoguns can be criminals—as long as they never get found out. Staging a coup d état, Aikake was planning to win. Winning meant that he would only have the Hitotsubashi as a rival, and of course rivals do not go easy on each other. They would use any sort of leverage they get ahold of to kick each other out of the competition for the Shogun's seat. Aikake having human slaves and using them to bribe others was a leverage for the Hitotsubashi to use against him, to charge him of corruption and illegally keeping slaves, so killing them off was eliminating any leverage the Hitotsubashi could use against him. Also, even if he didn't win, and made his escape, the women were only burdens. They had been in the Aikake estate for so long, and many of them served his guests as they babbled about politics, so they have some information against him. To prevent important information from leaking to his enemies, again, killing them was for the best. He had no use for the women anymore, winning or losing the coup d état didn't make any impact on the fate of the women. They were meant to die.
> 
> That sounded very cruel, but yes. Politics in the past was very brutal.
> 
> If you guys have any unanswered questions or discovered more plot holes in my story, or maybe you guys want to know more about Rae's past, just comment. The chapters on Rae's past...I'll think about it...maybe I should just leave it to your imagination.


	41. Extra! GinTsu Special!

The level beneath Kagura thumped loudly and the whole closet shook.

Kagura, being the pig that she was, slept through each shake.

The thumps got louder, and someone from below hit the shelf of wood Kagura was sleeping on, lifting the whole slab with Kagura up before it fell back in place again.

This time, Kagura woke up, rubbing her eyes, the dark eye circles on her face so large that it practically reached down to her cheeks.

She wordlessly slid the closet door open, climbing down from the higher shelf to restrain the flailing Rae sleeping beneath her at the bottom of the closet.

"Rae-chan? Rae-chan!" Kagura called the weeping woman softly, locking her arms to her sides so she wouldn't get another few more bruises.

It took Rae a while to open her eyes.

"Kagura-chan?" Rae turned her tired eyes to the equally tired Yato, "I'm so sorry...I won't disturb your sleep again."

"No, no it's fine. It's not like you can control your nightmares either." Kagura yawned, digging around her pocket with a hand. "Want some konbu?"

"Thanks." Rae munched on the konbu. It was at least something that calmed her palpitating heart from the horrifying nightmare she had. Sadaharu treaded closer to give her a lick and a fluffy hug with his head.

"Maybe...maybe you can tie me up? And duct tape my mouth. I'll won't be able to make as much noise then." Rae offered a solution for the sleep deprived Kagura.

The first day she moved into the closet in the Yorozuya, her screams at night woke up the Earth father and daughter pair.

The same thing continued for the next few days, and Rae grew even more guilty at how they comforted her at each turn, not being in the slightest irritated at herself and her nightmares.

Rae had made a note to keep her own mouth shout when she was sleeping, but she still couldn't control his limbs from going awry everytime Aikake's face floated before her.

"And let you suffer alone in the nightmare without us knowing? Don't be stupid." Gintoki's morning voice (it was still deep in the middle of the night to be exact) sounded from his bedroom door.

"Gin-san...I woke you up too? Oh no." Rae looked disappointedly at herself. "I had hoped to be quieter after 2 weeks of being here."

"2 weeks isn't long enough. It wouldn't go away so quickly." Gintoki gestured for Rae to sit at the sofa. "I'll take over now, Kagura, you can go and sleep in my room."

"Yes! Wahahahaha!" Kagura grinned at the thought of having the whole room and the futon to herself, running off immediately with Sadaharu following behind.

Gintoki warmed some milk for Rae, placing the cup in front of her while she stared off at the moonlight filtering through the window at Gintoki's desk.

They didn't bother turning on the lights. The dark room with the Justaway clock ticking happily away, and natural moonlight illuminating the room softly was more serene and safe than Rae had ever felt in her entire life.

"I had nightmares for years. Every single night, just like you. Even now, I sometimes still get them when I least expect it." Gintoki stirred his milk, relaxing into the sofa.

The moonlight glinted off his silver hair, as did Rae's bone-white hair.

Rae sipped at the warm milk, but didn't pry deeper into why Gintoki had nightmares.

"Not going to ask me why?"

"You'll tell me if you feel like it." Rae replied, a smile creeping onto her face. It felt weird to be smiling this much these 2 weeks she was here, but being around the crazy Yorozuya and everyone else didn't give her enough time to wallow in her own depression.

But no one could protect her from the clutches of the night.

Gintoki smiled into his cup. "Well, some things couldn't be erased from my mind, no matter how hard I tried. My story's too long and complicated to explain, so I won't bother. Anyways, it took me years to stop having the nightmares daily, so you shouldn't expect them to be gone so quickly."

"I don't want to disturb your sleep." Rae pointed at Gintoki's own dark eye circles. "They are so large now your face is almost black from it."

"Nah, don't worry. I'll sleep through your fits soon enough."

"Hm?" Rae's smile grew wider, "So you'll still leave me alone to suffer in my nightmares?"

"Kagura's good at calming people down when they have nightmares. She had me as practice after all. Shinpachi too, he stays over often." Gintoki downed his cup of milk. "I can still sleep nicely without getting disturbed."

"Ah!" Rae suddenly exclaimed, holding her cheek with one hand.

"What? What happened? You okay?" Gintoki's worried gaze landed on her covered cheek.

"No, no I'm fine...it's just that my smiling muscles are cramping up since I've been using them constantly these days...they didn't get much use in the past..."

"Tch. I'm going to sleep."

Rae smiled through her cramping cheeks. "Night."

* * *

The next day, Gintoki made a trip to Yoshiwara.

"Gin-san! Here to visit Tsukuyo?" Hinowa smiled at the samurai, her bright eyes teasing.

"Nah, I came here to buy some liquor." Gintoki scratched at his head, shielding his eyes from the afternoon sun glare. "The Knockout King. It's for Rae."

"Nightmares?" Hinowa hit the nail on the head immediately.

"Yeah. She can't even sleep properly, so I came to buy liquor for her. Don't know if it'll work but I know Yoshiwara has the strongest liquor out of all the places I've drank at."

"You look like you need some Knockout King too, you know." Hinowa drew a large circle with a finger. "Your dark eye circles are only accentuating your dead fish eyes."

Gintoki stared wordlessly at the courtesan.

"Just kidding." Hinowa smoothed it over, changing the subject with expert ease, "The Knockout King only starts selling at 5pm though."

The deadly lazer rays from the Sun bathed over Yoshiwara.

"I guess I'll come ba—"

"No, no, I have something for you, Gin-san. Don't leave yet. It's a job request for you." Hinowa interrupted, calling the leaving samurai back.

"A job?" Gintoki stopped.

"A job only you can complete. I need your help in testing something."

Hinowa's mysterious smile sent a cold chill running down Gintoki's spine.

* * *

"Hell no! Why are you here?" Gintoki groaned when he found Tsukuyo in the room.

"W-wait I should be the one asking you!" Tsukuyo blinked at the silver-haired man bewilderingly.

Gintoki whipped around at lightning speed, his fingers almost catching the door slamming behind him. He knew he had fallen into the older courtesan's trap the moment he saw the blonde Hyakka leader in the room.

"Hinowa-san! Open the door!" Gintoki tried the handle to find out it was locked.

That's right. It wasn't the shoji that was everywhere in Yoshiwara; it was a door. A door that led to the newest "playroom" that Yoshiwara built recently.

Apparently traditional japanese rooms were getting too boring, so in order to attract more customers, they built new rooms such as the one Tsukuyo and Gintoki were trapped in now, and filled it with the most advanced technology, tailored to meet every customers' needs and fantasies. They were called rooms, but it was actually big enough to call it a mini-sized apartment.

"It's the new job request, and you have already accepted it, Gin-san. You can't go back on your word now. Or else I won't pay you. I'll even ask the whole Yoshiwara to not sell you the Knockout King." Hinowa's chirpy voice came through the door crack. "You just need to test the system and all the available things there, and give me some feedback on what you think about the tools."

"Then why is this woman here?!"

"I never specified that you would be doing the job alone." Hinowa's voice floated through the crack, its cheeriness slapping Gintoki in the face. "Have a good time then, I'll be waiting for the good news."

Gintoki could hear the sound of Hinowa wheeling away, giggling like a young teenager. "Oh! I'll come back at 5 to let you two out!"

"5?! It's only 1 pm now!" Gintoki's protests fell on deaf ears.

"W-what..." Tsukuyo stared at Gintoki. "Did Hinowa ask you to come help me test the new room?"

The man sighed, "I came here to get the Knockout King for Rae, then she asked me to take this job and even told me she'll pay me a hefty amount. So here I am."

"Oh..okay." Tsukuyo looked away awkwardly. "I was patrolling as usual but Hinowa told me to come check the room and see if it was in working order..."

She trailed off, but before the silent pause could drag out any longer, sexy music started playing softly from the speakers. The window that had bright sunlight pouring in was suddenly covered up by a black screen rolling down, the mechanical gears whirring.

The room was only pitch black for a split second before pink, atmospheric lights illuminated the room.

"Uh...wow. You guys must have spent a lot of money, huh?" Gintoki raised an eyebrow.

"It's all automatic!" Tsukuyo quickly explained, "I actually got the inspiration the last time we marched into Aikake's mansion, and...and his house was...so modern but it had like japanese elements mixed in with— I thought Yoshiwara could use some new stuff since we were liberated...I...uh...yeah."

Gintoki kept a passive expression.

Tsukuyo's own flustered face made her feel like banging her head onto the wall. "I told Hinowa about it and she had some other designers come up with the rooms...so I'm not going to be a very good guide since I'm not one of the designers..." Her volume got softer the more she spoke.

She wasn't so nervous the last few times she had her alone times with this cursed man! Something was wrong with her! She was acting out of character! Tsukuyo calmed herself down, finally getting control back over herself.

"I've only been here for the past half an hour, but I'll give you a tour." Tsukuyo hooray-ed inside her mind at the cool, collected voice that came out of her.

"Mm. OK."

Tsukuyo searched for the remote control that controlled most of the functions in the room. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found it, pressing the button to pause the sexy music filling the very atmospheric room up.

"So, you can see this button here, it controls the music. There's a playlist apparently, and you can switch the music up by pressing this button." Tsukuyo spoke with a professional tone, forcing herself to meet Gintoki's eyes coolly as she tapped the button with her thumb.

'Careless Whisper' was apparently the next song on the playlist, the saxophone coming in grandly.

Tsukuyo quickly paused the music.

Gintoki maintained an excellent indifferent expression the whole time.

"And...you can change the colour of the lights, brightness too..." Tsukuyo paused, trying to remember which button it was again. "Ah, here it is."

The pink glow of the lights deepened to a seductive red, and the room became dimmer.

Tsukuyo promptly amped up the brightness to max, switching the colour from red to a frosty blue.

She had been holding up her professional cool mask as best as she possibly could, but she was definitely sure Gintoki was noticing the nervous sweat sliding down her forehead.

Gintoki did notice the sweat, but he was staring at somewhere else instead, watching the bead of sweat slide down her long neck.

Tsukuyo tapped a few times on another button, lowering the temperature of the air-conditioner. Was it only her that felt that the room was getting hotter?

She then glanced to her side, determinedly avoiding the 64-inch HD TV that sat there quietly with surround sound speakers, and guided Gintoki further down into the room.

The things on the TV would only make this awkward job even more unbearable.

She also pointedly ignored the shelf of - _cough_ \- DVDs beside the large TV.

"Uh...the highlight is the bed, if I remember correctly...That's what the designers said..." The leader of the Hyakka swallowed.

"Wow. Really. Show me what the bed can do then." Gintoki acted the curious "tourist" for Tsukuyo's sake, but he wasn't really getting the role right with his flat tone.

Tsukuyo internally prayed to all sorts of deities that existed in the world to end this painful experience.

"I-I'm not really sure about the functions of the bed yet, so let's go on ahead and we'll come back later to figure it out. O-Or you can try it yourself with someone else next time— but don't book this room too often because it's very expensive." Tsukuyo stalked off quickly into the bathroom.

Gintoki plopped himself onto the bed. A small satisfied grunt escaped as the heavenly bed wrapped him in its cushiony arms. The bed was great.

A short scream came from the bathroom, and Gintoki pushed himself off the comfortable bed and rushed into the bathroom.

Tsukuyo was drenched from head to toe, staring like a deer in the headlights at Gintoki who just entered.

"You want to take a shower first?" Gintoki couldn't help but tease the woman, her face flushing red at the implied meaning. His lazy smirk did not help her insane heart banging around in her ribcage.

Taking a shower..and then the next step...

"N-No, I was just testing the water and accidentally got myself wet...And, so you can see the shower is very powerful indeed! It's also designed to fit two or more people— and..and the bathtub too! It's very big. Yes." Tsukuyo continued her touring, trying to look unfazed by the amount of water dripping down from her. Her choice of words was not helping the situation very much either.

"Here."

A fluffy towel covered her head the next instant.

"Uhm...thank— W-What are you doing?" Tsukuyo squeaked as the man before her started removing his belt and yukata that he wore.

"Change into this. You'll catch a cold walking around like that." Gintoki handed the white yukata to her, "There's nothing else here for you to change into, right?"

"Y-yeah. The bathrobes haven't arrived yet...I...thanks, I guess." Tsukuyo was so embarrassed that her mind had taken a wrong turn down the M21 street.

Gintoki exited the bathroom to allow her to change.

Tsukuyo muffled her own scream into the towel, then quickly dried her hair and changed from her wet kimono into Gintoki's. She stood in front of the mirror, trying to tie her hair back up into her usual bun, but her trembling hands wouldn't allow her to do so.

Tsukuyo contemplated stabbing herself with her kunai.

Then she contemplated about killing the man waiting for her outside.

Giving up on both choices, she just let her hair loose and then slammed a hand onto the mirror.

_Calm down. I am a cool person. I'm the coolest person in the whole world. That handso—that ugly retarded idiot outside is nothing to me. He is but a dead fish...dead fish...dead fish...deadfish...deadfishdeadfishdeadfish..._

Tsukuyo muttered to herself, schooling her expression into a neutral one.

Her rosy cheeks gave her away.

_Fuck this shit..._

She just hoped for the best and threw open the bathroom door— _coolly_.

Gintoki was lounging on the bed, his arms propped behind his head. He was facing the bathroom door so he had a clear view of the blonde that strode out.

"Let's continue the tour." Tsukuyo's violet eyes landed on the beautiful man lying invitingly on the bed, then had to look away before she oogled for too long.

Gintoki wore the yukata over his black shirt and pants all the time, so without the yukata, Tsukuyo could see his well-sculpted manly muscles— _oh, dear lord. Those sexy thighs...Why didn't I notice them before?_

He was not freakishly bulky with terrifying muscles, but he was just the right kind of well-built that many women loved— including Tsukuyo.

She waited for his reply, but didn't sense the man getting down from the bed.

"What are you waiting for..." Tsukuyo turned around, swallowing the rest of her words when she felt the scorching gaze raking across her body.

The proud leader of the Hyakka who had proudly thrown away her womanhood thought she would just explode into a million tiny blushing pieces right then.

She unconsciously tried to cover her body, folding her arms under her full breasts.

It only succeeded in highlighting her alluring front mounds and her innocent shyness.

"Your...your yukata is a little to big for me...so...so..." Tsukuyo bit her lip, violet pupils shaking slightly in her anxious attempt to try and break the weird tension in the air.

"It looks good on you." Gintoki's voice was deeper than usual.

The woman standing before him clothed in his yukata, blushing and unconciously biting her lip looked so inviting that Gintoki forgot himself for a moment. The yukata was almost slipping off her shoulder, revealing smooth milky skin.

"Show me the bed, will you?" Gintoki stood up from the bed, moving further away from the fretting woman to give her some space before she collapsed.

"O-okay." Tsukuyo said shakily. "I...I left the remote in...in the bathroom."

Gintoki didn't comment on the remote that was obviously in her hand as Tsukuyo fled back into the bathroom.

He sighed when the door slammed close. He needed to stop thinking that she looked cute.

In the bathroom, Tusukyo pulled off a flurry of punches, creating a deep hole in the cement wall.

She screamed silently, heaving as she threw kunais at the wall.

"Calm down...calm down...there's only a few more hours left...JUST HANG ON...ONLY A FEW MORE HOURS LEFT..." Tsukuyo whisper-yelled, patting herself on the back. She adjusted the yukata tightly around any exposed skin, tightening the belt until she thought she might suffocate.

She threw the door open for the second time—coolly of course.

"Found it." The blonde strode to the bed, waving the remote control that had been in her hand the whole time at Gintoki who was appraising some nondescript painting on the wall, a wine bottle in his hand.

"The highlight. The bed. I don't really know all the stuff that was installed, so I'm just going to try and see what happens." Tsukuyo's professional tone made a comeback, but it was less natural than the first. "The bed is made from the most comfortable foam produced from the Fuwa-Fuwa Planet, providing great support for the back and...and doesn't make noise when you are...you know."

Tsukuyo squinted at the buttons, trying to decipher the tiny logos on them before giving up quickly. "I'll try pressing something."

A mechanical arm shot out from underneath the bed, holding a shelf full of rubbery Neo Armstrong Jet Cyclone replicas ( _cough you know what I mean_ _I won't go into detailed stuff or else this whole story might get rated MA)_ that jiggled a little before stabilizing.

Tsukuyo forced herself to speak. "Well, we have a range of sizes for the customer to choose."

Gintoki swiped the largest dil off the shelf, looking at it with disdain.

"This is the largest you guys have? Pssh. Mine's at least twice as—"

His sentence was interrupted by a kunai stabbing itself in between his eyes.

"Say anything more and I'll cut off your dick and give it to Kyuubei-chan."

Gintoki zipped his mouth shut.

Tsukuyo being very satisfied that she was able to make threats with a cool voice and absolutely cool face, tried another button.

Another mechanical arm delivered a shelf full of ropes and whips with all kinds of leather stuff that the readers obviously know what it means.

"We cater to all people...with all kinds of fetishes." The Hyakka leader pressed another button, and another shelf of sexy lingerie appeared.

Gintoki picked up a scanty article of clothing. "Why don't you change into these? I mean, it's better than your wet underwear— "

A shower of kunais sunk into his flesh and Gintoki let go of the scandalous panties.

" ** _Talk shit get hit._** " Tsukuyo hissed.

"Alright, alright I won't say anything— "

The tip of a kunai caught the dim lights in the room, reflecting it off directly at Gintoki's crotch.

The once feared Shiroyasha immediately clamped his pie-hole shut, his hands raised up in surrender.

"But— " Gintoki started again, only to be cut off by the woman's menacing gaze.

"Let's move on." Tsukuyo turned, then stopped abruptly. She whipped her head back at Gintoki who still had his hands up, trying to look innocent, the wine bottle still in his hands.

She walked closer to Gintoki, her eyes zooming onto the bottle. "Where did you get that?"

"It's over at the shelf there, I just picked it up." Gintoki pointed in the general direction with his chin.

"Did you— did you drink it yet?" Tsukuyo suddenly looked very worried as she noticed Gintoki's unnaturally flushed face.

"Uh..yes? Maybe about 1/3 of the bottle?" Gintoki raised an eyebrow quizzically.

Tsukuyo asked, "Do...do you feel anything weird? Like...like _weird_?"

"I was about to tell you just now that the room was too hot and wanted to ask you to lower the air-con's temperature, but you cut me off." Gintoki leaned in closer as he spoke, eyes fixed onto Tsukuyo's violet ones.

"I...Do you even know what that wine does?!" Tsukuyo snatched the bottle from his hands, putting it onto the nearby table. "It's an aphrodisiac wine! It's for the customers who use the room! W-why the hell did you drink it?!"

"Well, it looked expensive, so..." Gintoki's hands were still up, but his face was still inching closer.

"You can't do that!" Tsukuyo's mind was in a total mess, "You— "

Her words got stuck in her throat when she realized how close the man was getting. She could feel his warm breath flitting across her face, his red eyes clouded.

Tsukuyo felt all the blood in her body rush to her face, smacking away Gintoki's hands that had unknowingly circled around her. She stabbed him in the head with several kunais, kicking him onto the bed with the pointy part of her heel.

"Y-you...you..." The blonde spluttered, "AH! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING! S-stop!"

Gintoki had started to unzip his black shirt, exposing his muscled chest and abs. "I'm feeling really hot," he explained.

"NO! YOU! GO INTO THE BATHROOM! I DON'T KNOW! TAKE A COLD SHOWER!" Tsukuyo covered her face with her hands, shrinking into the corner of the room. _Heck_! She was a grown woman, not a teenager who had never seen a man's body before! Although she didn't have real experience, at least she knew stuff from the things she picked up living in Yoshiwara!

Tsukuyo forced her hands down from her face, but regretted it immediately.

The shirtless Gintoki was standing right before her, both arms trapping her in the famous kabedon.

"You can help me." His voice was deep and husky, sending shivers down Tsukuyo's spine.

"N-no...I...no!" She was a stuttering mess, and all she could hear was the Windows XP shut-down tune in her head as her limbs froze in total panic.

She closed her eyes, trying to call her limbs back to life.

_Kick him! Kick him in the nuts, Tsukuyo! Do it! Stupid legs! Why aren't you moving!_

"Hmm?"

Tsukuyo could sense the burning gaze of Gintoki's as he leaned even closer.

A soft chuckle startled her, and her eyes shot open to see the silver-haired samurai's face zoomed up so close she could see his pores.

And those dark red eyes seducing her.

Before Tsukuyo could close her eyes again, the man stopped invading her personal space, chuckling as he walked away to the bathroom. "Just joking~~"

Her limbs finally came back to life and she gave the annoying samurai a flying kick into the bathroom.

Gintoki's high-pitched scream echoed in the bathroom as a resounding crack was heard.

Tsukuyo slammed the bathroom door close, her heart going Fast and Furious. She ignored the sound of running water coming from the bathroom, fleeing to the front door and tried all her lock-picking tactics on the door lock.

"I'm going to die if I don't get out of here soon!" Tsukuyo muttered to herself, the door lock not giving the tiniest budge. "Argh!"

"Tsukki!"

"Shut up!" The blonde yelled back without thinking.

"Tsukki! Get my shirt for me will you?" The annoying voice called out again.

She paused, deciding between seeing the man in all his muscled glory or seeing him covered up nicely.

She chose the latter with much difficulty, stalked to the bed where Gintoki had thrown his black shirt and pinched the fabric between her forefinger and thumb.

Tsukuyo knocked on the translucent bathroom glass door, where she could see his blurry figure behind, waiting for his shirt. "Open the door."

She thought he would open up a crack, but no— the shameless man just had to swing it open fully.

Tsukuyo tried very hard not to blush but failed.

_His hair was wet and the usual perm was tampered down by the water, making him seem even more handsome. Beads of water slid down his strong, wide neck and in between those perfectly-sculpted abs, soaking into the towel that was tied across his hips, covering the —_

Tsukuyo caught herself ogling at Gintoki. _What the hell was I narrating in my head?_

Her face flamed into a darker red, looking away to the side as she stretched out her arm holding his shirt. "T-take it..."

Gintoki smirked. "Why not enjoy the view a little more?"

Tsukuyo reached her breaking point and exploded, throwing the black shirt over Gintoki's head and wrapping it tightly around his face like a sack, suffocating him. She jumped onto Gintoki, who tottered back with the force, punching his face with the strength of a WWE Champion, stabbing any exposed skin she could see with her unlimited supply of kunais.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I'M SORRY! FORGIVE ME PAUCHI-SAMA! " Gintoki screamed, pleading for his life as the crazy woman who had lost her sanity kicked him over and over again.  
 **(A/N: Pauchi is the Japanese god of insanity)**

They fell into the bathtub, Tsukuyo kneeling on top of the man, still immersed in her stabbing.

Gintoki finally shook off the shirt suffocating him, and grabbed Tsukuyo's wrists.

The towel around Gintoki's waist came loose.

Tsukuyo glanced down.

"AAAAAH! YOU— YOU DISGUSTING CORRUPT IMMORAL OUTRAGEOUS PIECE OF SHIT!" Tsukuyo ended the beating with a knee to his Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon, twisting her wrists out of Gintoki's grip and tried to make an escape.

But the bathtub wasn't built for running away, it was for _staying_.

Tsukuyo slipped, and fell back on top of the naked man.

The leader of the Hyakka had never thought that she would feel like crying in front of others. It was _weak_. And Tsukuyo wasn't a weak woman. She wasn't even a "woman"— she had thrown away her womanhood since young and hardly ever cried after that.

But embarrassment, anger, frustration, and a mix of emotions she couldn't sort out brought tears to her eyes— and also the fact that she was actually lying on a naked man that she was very attracted to— she froze there, her watery eyes fixed onto Gintoki's smiling ones.

Tsukuyo resisted the urge to bawl and curl up into a ball of embarrassment, dig a six feet deep hole to live in and never come out again.

Gintoki just smiled without saying anything, the warmth of his hands on her arms seeping through the yukata she wore. Then his hands slid across her back, and enveloped her in a warm, safe hug.

Tsukuyo felt the tears spill and she sobbed uncontrollably into his naked shoulder, thumping his chest with her small fist, her pent-up stress and feelings brimming out in the form of tears.

Gintoki patted her back comfortingly as she cried, not minding all the snot and tears smearing onto his bare skin.

Both had completely forgotten that one of them was completely nude and were tangled together in the bathtub.

Tsukuyo cried for everything that had happened since they were locked in the room, cried for Rae's friends whom she couldn't save, cried for Rae who had lost her friends but still tried her best to live her life, cried for Hinowa and the years she suffered being stripped of her ability to walk, cried at herself for being so pathetic— she cried for everything she had wanted to cry for but didn't.

His big, strong arms seemed so protective, and his embrace too warm and comforting that she lost the control over the dam that suppressed her feelings.

"I hate you...it's all your fault..." Tsukuyo sniffed, but cried even more when she realized she sounded like a coy teenager. She couldn't stop being pathetic around this perm-headed samurai, and hated herself for that.

Gintoki's smile deepened, his hand stroking her soft hair soothingly.

* * *

"Tsukki! Gin-san!" Hinowa knocked on the door to the new playroom.

"Hello? Tsukki? Are you guys there?" Hinowa called out again, then unlocked the door, carefully peeking through the crack in order to not see anything she shouldn't see— like their naked bodies on the bed.

"HINOWA!" Tsukuyo bellowed from the bathroom. "I'M GOING TO SORT THIS THING OUT WITH YOU LATER! YOU BETTER GET READY!"

Gintoki lounged across the sofa in front of the TV, browsing through the collection of adult DVDs on the shelf, the perfect picture of carelessness.

"It's 5 o' clock! Did you guys have a good time?" Hinowa ignored the angry shouts emanating from the bathroom, clasping her hands together and giving Gintoki a motherly smile.

Gintoki scratched at his ear. "If you consider her beating me up for the past few hours a good time, then yes, its all good."

"I thought you guys would come out sooner than that, you know? The remote had a unlocking button to the door. I thought Tsukuyo would know." Hinowa smiled, wheeling herself to the bathroom.

"What? The remote could unlock the door?" Both protagonists yelled at the same time.

"I could have spent my afternoon away from this crazy woman?! Why didn't you tell me?" Gintoki rushed to Hinowa, almost grabbing her by the collar.

"Why would I tell you?" The demure smile stuck on Hinowa's face didn't falter at all. "Here's your money for the job, the Knockout King is outside; Seita will give to you when you leave." She pushed an envelope into Gintoki's hands.

"Well, I'm leaving!" Gintoki announced, walking out the playroom.

"Tsukki! What are you doing in the bathroom? Gin-san left already! You can come out!" Hinowa knocked on the translucent door.

The glass door opened and Tsukuyo's face popped out. "He's gone?"

"Yes—oh dear, Tsukki! What happened? Why are your eyes so red?" Hinowa took Tsukuyo's hands into her, looking worriedly at her swollen, bloodshot eyes.

"I was showing him the bathroom then I don't know but soap got into my eyes and this happened." Tsukuyo covered up her embarrassing moment with a lie.

"Oh, dear. Be more careful." Hinowa patted her hand, then surveyed the room with a hawk eye, the lie detector in her mind beeping off like crazy.

The bedsheets were a little crinkled, but Hinowa could tell with her experience that the bed was totally unused. Her eyes then roved over the sofa by the TV, but didn't see anything to indicate that any intense and heated activity had taken place.

"What did you two do? You didn't realise the remote had an unlock button?" Hinowa asked Tsukuyo as they made their way out of the playroom.

"I—I just gave him a tour of the whole room, but we didn't try all the buttons. And then after I got soap into my eyes I just spent the rest of the time in the bathroom trying to get it out."

"Oh? That's a little...disappointing."

"Hinowa!" Tsukuyo almost stomped her foot like a 5 year old child. "How could you do this to me! And you even paid Gintoki?!"

"Haha..."

* * *

"Gin-san! Where were you the whole afternoon?" Shinpachi asked when he heard the front door sliding open.

"Stuck in hell with an insane woman." Gintoki sighed, "At least the job paid well, we can pay rent this month."

"Job?" Rae looked up from the current week's Jump series.

"Don't ask about it. And here, I got you some alcohol, hopefully its strong enough to give you a night devoid of any nightmares."

"The...Knockout King?" Rae took the bottle from him, reading the label.

"The strongest alcohol from Yoshiwara. I'll be needing some tonight too." Gintoki sank into the sofa, dragging a magazine from the floor closer with his foot.

"Yoshiwara...ah! Tsukuyo-san! I should visit her." Rae muttered to herself, remembering the time at the toilet when Tsukuyo tried to recruit her into the Hyakka.

Gintoki gave up on reading the magazine, and sauntered off into his bedroom.

He needed the alcohol to keep Tsukuyo out of his dreams.


End file.
